红腹锦鸡羽毛沉积类胡萝卜素遗传与进化机理的研究

长期的进化过程中，色彩变幻的羽毛颜色赋予了鸟类更多新的功能，如求偶、伪装和保护色、恐吓，交流等。雉科锦鸡属的红腹锦鸡和白腹锦鸡雄鸟是世界上羽毛最为艳丽的鸟类，红腹锦鸡雄鸟身体部分区域有明亮的橙色和金黄色羽毛是由于类胡萝卜素的沉积，而白腹锦鸡羽毛中不含类胡萝卜素。羽毛颜色的进化反映了这些色彩艳丽的鸟在适应环境过程中的进化历程，从遗传学的角度出发，物种的生物学特性必然是其基因组特性的反映。因此阐明红腹锦鸡羽毛沉积类胡萝卜素的遗传与进化机理具有重要的理论意义。本项目在已有工作的基础上，通过对红腹锦鸡与白腹锦鸡的染色体构象分析，结合其杂交F2代SLAF-基因组关联分析，以及多组学联合分析定位类胡萝卜素沉积羽毛的基因，并阐明其作用方式与代谢途径，揭示羽毛沉积类胡萝卜素色素的遗传与进化机理，对于理解动物色素复杂的调控机理具有重要的科学意义，同时为开发类胡萝卜素天然皮毛染料、染发剂等提供借鉴。

In the long-term evolution process, the color of plumage has given birds more new functions, such as courtship, camouflage and protection, intimidation, communication and so on. The Golden Pheasant and Lady Amherst's Pheasant males are the most brilliant plumage birds in the world. The bright orange and golden feathers in part of the body in the Golden Pheasant males are due to the deposition of carotenoids, while the Lady Amherst's Pheasant males do not contain carotenoids. The evolution of plumage color reflects the evolutionary process of these brightly colored birds adapting to the environment. From the point of view of genetics, the biological characteristics of species must be the reflection of their genomic characteristics. Therefore, it is of great theoretical significance to elucidate the genetic and evolutionary mechanism of carotenoids deposited in the feathers of The Golden Pheasant. On the basis of the previous work, this project analyzed the Hi-C of the Golden Pheasant and Lady Amherst's Pheasant, combined with SLAF-genome Association analysis, and multi-omics analysis to locate the genes of carotenoid deposit in plumage, clarified its mode of action and metabolic pathway, revealed the genetic and evolutionary mechanism of carotenoid deposit in plumage, and for understand the complex regulation mechanism of animal pigments has important scientific significance, and provides reference for the development of natural carotenoid fur dyes and hair dyes.