Scientist of Institute of Animal Sciences of CAAS carried out genome-wide screen of copy number variation (CNVs) in Beijing-You (BJY) chickens. The study identified 137 high confidence CNV regions in BJY chicken genome and the paper was published in Genetica in September 2014.

BJY chicken is a local Chinese breed with excellent resistance to stress and disease compared to many other chicken breeds. CNV is a source of genomic variation which includes intermediately sized DNA segments that have undergone submicroscopic insertion, deletion, segmental duplication and complex changes of greater than 1 kb to several Mb. CNV is related with diverse biological functions, including the sensitivity to HIV, penetration of disease and protein function. Dr. Guiping Zhao and her colleagues detected CNVs of 1,310 BJY chickens by a genome-wide CNV detection system based on the 60 KSNP BeadChip. 137 high confidence CNV regions covers 27.31 Mb of the chicken genome and corresponds to 2.61% of the chicken genome. 131 known genes or coding sequences were involved. Successful Q-PCR validation of phosphatidylinositol-5-phosphate 4-kinase II alpha, PHD finger protein 14, RHACD8 (a CD8a- like messenger RNA), MHC B-G, zinc finger protein, sarcosine dehydrogenase and ficolin 2 further supported the reliability of the CNV data.