Development and application of genome sequencing in studies on poultry production traits and health

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a novel method widely used in animal science and veterinary research. This technique revolutionized molecular biology and animal genetics research. The unquestionable advantage of NGS is an almost unlimited insight into genetic information. This review discusses the most important applications and achievements in poultry genomics available due to detailed sequence information. Here we present the development of sequencing methods and their further applications in poultry research. The chicken is an important livestock species and a model organism. It is the first non-mammalian amniote whose genome was sequenced by the International Chicken Genome Sequencing Consortium. Therefore, analysis of the chicken genome as a model organism and comparative analysis of genome reference plays an important role in current research. The detailed knowledge of the chicken genome position of genes associated with most important phenotypic traits will contribute to the development of molecular methods for the selection of animals.