Conserved genetic basis of a quantitative plumage trait involved in mate choice
Conserved genetic basis of a quantitative plumage trait involved in mate choice
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DOI：
10.1126/science.1093834
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发表时间：
2004-03-19
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
Nadeau, NJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Mundy, NI;Badcock, NS;Nadeau, NJ
进化遗传学的一个关键问题是，共享的遗传机制是否是系统发育不同谱系中相似表型独立进化的基础。在这里，我们展示了鸟类黑色羽毛多态性的两个经典例子，即小雪雁（Anser c. caerulescens）和北极贼鸥（Stercorarius parasiticus），黑色素病与黑皮质素-1受体（MC1R）基因的变异完全相关。在这两个物种中，黑化程度与变异 MC1R 等位基因的拷贝数相关。对鹅和贼鸥中变异 MC1R 等位基因的系统发育重建表明，黑色素是更新世进化而来的衍生性状。
A key question in evolutionary genetics is whether shared genetic mechanisms underlie the independent evolution of similar phenotypes across phylogenetically divergent lineages. Here we show that in two classic examples of melanic plumage polymorphisms in birds, lesser snow geese (Anser c. caerulescens) and arctic skuas (Stercorarius parasiticus), melanism is perfectly associated with variation in the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene. In both species, the degree of melanism correlates with the number of copies of variant MC1R alleles. Phylogenetic reconstructions of variant MC1R alleles in geese and skuas show that melanism is a derived trait that evolved in the Pleistocene.