Xiaotong Zheng, Jianfei Chen, Ruixue Nie, Huanhuan Miao, Ziwei Chen, Jiaheng He, Yinku Xie, Hao Zhang

Differential expression of ASIP transcripts reveals genetic mechanism underpinning black‐tail independence from body plumage in yellow‐bodied chickens

  • Genetics
  • Animal Science and Zoology
  • General Medicine
Save to CiteDrive Show PDF

AbstractThe genetic foundation of chicken body plumage color has been extensively studied. However, little attention has been paid to the inheritance patterns and molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of distal feather colors (tail and wingtip). Differences in these colors are common; for example, the Chinese Huiyang Beard chicken has black tail feathers, but yellow body plumage. Here, the hybrid offspring of Huiyang Beard and White Leghorn chickens were used to study the inheritance patterns of tail‐feather color. The expression levels of pigment genes in differently colored feather follicles were analyzed using quantitative real‐time PCR. The results showed that genetic regulation of tail‐feather color was independent of body‐plumage color. The Dominant White locus inhibited eumelanin synthesis in tail feathers without affecting the formation of yellow body plumage, whereas the Silver locus had the opposite effect. The expression of agouti signaling protein (ASIP) gene class 1 transcripts was significantly lower in black tail‐feather follicles than in yellow body follicles, whereas tyrosinase‐related protein 1 (TYRP1) gene expression was significantly higher in black tail feathers. These differentially expressed genes were confirmed to exert an effect on eumelanin and pheomelanin formation in feathers, thus influencing the regulation of chicken tail‐feather color. In conclusion, this study lays the foundation for further research on the genetic mechanisms of regional differences in feather color, contributing to a better understanding of plumage pigmentation in chickens.

Need a simple solution for managing your BibTeX entries? Explore CiteDrive!

  • Web-based, modern reference management
  • Collaborate and share with fellow researchers
  • Integration with Overleaf
  • Comprehensive BibTeX/BibLaTeX support
  • Save articles and websites directly from your browser
  • Search for new articles from a database of tens of millions of references
Try out CiteDrive

More from our Archive