Identifying the genes underlying adaptation is a major challenge in evolutionary biology. Here, we describe the molecular changes underlying adaptive coat color variation in a natural population of rock pocket mice, Chaetodipus intermedius. Rock pocket mice are generally light-colored and live on light-colored rocks. However, populations of dark (melanic) mice are found on dark lava, and this c...

Piebaldism is a rare autosomal dominant disorder of melanocyte development, which is mostly caused by KIT gene. The key characteristics of piebaldism include localized poliosis, congenital leukoderma, and other variable manifestations. The previous study has illustrated that the homogeneous MC1R (a gene which is associated with the hair color) variant (p.I120T) coordinating with KIT mutation ma...

The genetics of adaptation is a key problem in evolutionary biology. Pocket gophers of the species Thomomys bottae provide one of the most striking examples of coat color variation in mammals. Dorsal pelage color is strongly correlated with soil color across the range of the species, presumably reflecting the selective pressure exerted by predation. To investigate the genetic basis of coat colo...

The interaction between two genes, Agouti and Melanocortin-1 receptor (Mc1r), produces diverse pigment patterns in mammals by regulating the type, amount, and distribution pattern of the two pigment types found in mammalian hair: eumelanin (brown/black) and pheomelanin (yellow/red). In domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), there is a tremendous variation in coat color patterns between and within br...

We are now unequivocally in the era of big science. Genotyping costs have become so trivial and genetic variation is so important that it is almost heresy to consider launching an epidemiologic investigation without collecting germ line DNA to evaluate the contributions of genetic diversity to the pathogenesis of disease. As genetics steps into the spotlight of epidemiology, studies are burstin...

BACKGROUND Melanoma and prostate cancer may share risk factors. This study examined the association between serum PSA levels, which is a risk factor for prostate cancer, and variants in some melanoma-associated pigmentary genes. METHODS We studied participants, all aged 70+ years, in the Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project who had no history of prostatitis or received treatment for prost...

MC1R plays a crucial role in controlling the type of melanin synthesized melanocytes, which greatly affects plumage color birds. One g.16796362G/T SNP was found gene coding region, caused Met120Ile mutation amino acid sequence. The located third transmembrane domain protein and decreased stability. locus achieved medium polymorphism had significant association with feather content Chinese yello...