GENETICS OF COAT COLOR VARIATION IN POCKET MICE

袖珍小鼠毛色变化的遗传学

• 批准号: 6210812
• 负责人: Hopi E Hoekstra
• 金额: $ 3.09万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-09-15 至
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6210812
• 关键词: Rodentias; animal population genetics; environmental adaptation; gene mutation; genetic mapping; genetic polymorphism; phenotype; pigmentation

A central goal in evolution is to explicitly connect genotype and phenotype for traits that are ecologically important. This has been an elusive goal because the genetic basis of most traits is not well understood. Coat color variation in rodents is a classic example of phenotypic variation in response to local adaptation: in many species, dorsal pelage color closely matches the soil color on which the animals live. Research on the genetics of coat color in the house mouse has produced a rich database of candidate genes and mutant effects. The combination of striking phenotypic variation in coat-color in pocket mice (Chaetodipus intermedius) and candidate pigmentation loci cloned in the laboratory mouse presents an unparalleled opportunity to investigate the genetic variation underlying a key morphological trait in nature. The proposed research will (1) document coat color variation in mice existing on both light and dark substrate, (2) screen candidate loci to identify genes contributing to observed phenotypic differences, (3) characterize mutant alleles of the implicated loci, (4) compare mutant alleles across dark populations, and (5) document selection acting on and estimate the age of the mutations. Together these studies will (1) identify the number and relative strength of genes contributing to coat color variation, (2) determine whether differences in pigmentation are due to changes in structural or regulatory regions of genes, and (3) determine if the same or different mutations occurred across dark populations.

进化的一个中心目标是明确连接具有生态重要性的性状的基因型和表型。 这是一个难以实现的目标，因为大多数性状的遗传基础尚不清楚。 啮齿动物的皮毛颜色变化是响应局部适应而发生表型变化的典型例子：在许多物种中，背毛颜色与动物生活的土壤颜色密切匹配。 对家鼠毛色遗传学的研究已经产生了丰富的候选基因和突变效应数据库。 袖珍小鼠（Chaetodipus intermedius）毛色的显着表型变异与实验室小鼠中克隆的候选色素沉着位点的结合为研究自然界中关键形态特征背后的遗传变异提供了无与伦比的机会。 拟议的研究将（1）记录存在于浅色和深色基质上的小鼠皮毛颜色变化，（2）筛选候选基因座以识别导致观察到的表型差异的基因，（3）表征相关基因座的突变等位基因，（4）比较深色群体中的突变等位基因，以及（5）记录作用于突变的选择并估计突变的年龄。 这些研究将（1）确定导致毛色变化的基因的数量和相对强度，（2）确定色素沉着的差异是否是由于基因结构或调节区域的变化造成的，以及（3）确定深色群体中是否发生相同或不同的突变。