Proanthocyanidins (PA) is a type of prominent flavonoid compound deposited in seed coats which controls the pigmentation in all Brassica species. Annotation of Brassica juncea genome survey sequences showed 72 PA genes; however, a functional description of these genes, especially how their interactions regulate seed pigmentation, remains elusive. In the present study, we designed 19 primer pair...

The melanocortin receptor, MC1R, is a key regulator of pigmentation in mammals, and is necessary for production of dark eumelanin pigment. Human MC1R variants with reduced or absent function are associated with red hair; mouse mutants result in yellow fur. Previous reports indicate differences between mouse and human receptors in their sensitivity to, and requirement for, alphaMSH agonist. We h...

A unique eye color, called tiger-eye, segregates in the Puerto Rican Paso Fino (PRPF) horse breed and is characterized by a bright yellow, amber, or orange iris. Pedigree analysis identified a simple autosomal recessive mode of inheritance for this trait. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) with 24 individuals identified a locus on ECA 1 reaching genome-wide significance (Pcorrected = 1.32 ×...

To screen for congenital deafness, brainstem auditory-evoked potential (BAEP) testing was performed on 1031 Dalmatians from three geographically separated areas. Phenotypic marker assessment was done to determine markers possibly associated with deafness. Markers included sex, hair coat color, pigmentation of different areas of skin (eye rims, nose, and ears), presence of a patch, spot size and...

Background: Melanin pigmentation of the gingiva occurs in allethnicities. Excessive pigmentation is an esthetic concern thathas increased awareness about depigmentation procedures. Thepurpose of the present study was to correlate the skin color andgender with the intensity and distribution of gingival melaninpigmentation in a group of South Indians for treatment strategies.Method: Two hundred m...

Oilseed crops are used to produce vegetable oil. Sesame (Sesamum indicum), an oilseed crop grown worldwide, has high oil content and a small diploid genome, but the genetic basis of oil production and quality is unclear. Here we sequence 705 diverse sesame varieties to construct a haplotype map of the sesame genome and de novo assemble two representative varieties to identify sequence variation...

Studies of coat color mutants have greatly contributed to the discovery of genes that regulate melanocyte development and function. Here, we generated Yy1 conditional knockout mice in the melanocyte-lineage and observed profound melanocyte deficiency and premature gray hair, similar to the loss of melanocytes in human piebaldism and Waardenburg syndrome. Although YY1 is a ubiquitous transcripti...