As concerns such as avian flu, animal welfare and consumer preferences impact the poultry industry, the reduced genetic diversity of the world's commercial bird breeds is increasing their vulnerability and the industry's ability to adapt, a genetics expert said.

Purdue University Professor Bill Muir was part of an international research team that analyzed the genetic lines of commercial chickens used to produce meat and eggs around the world. The researchers found the birds' genetic deficits are possibly leaving them vulnerable to new diseases and raising questions about their long-term sustainability.

"Just what is missing is hard to determine," Muir said. "But recent concerns over avian flu point to the need to ensure that even rare traits, such as those associated with disease resistance, are not totally missing in commercial flocks."

He said it's also important to preserve non-commercial breeds and wild birds for the purpose of safeguarding genetic diversity and that interbreeding additional species with commercial lines might help protect the industry.

The study, led by Hans Cheng of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, appears in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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