Merle is a pattern of coloring observed in the coat of the domestic dog and is characterized by patches of diluted pigment. This trait is inherited in an autosomal, incompletely dominant fashion. Dogs heterozygous or homozygous for the merle locus exhibit a wide range of auditory and ophthalmologic abnormalities, which are similar to those observed for the human auditory-pigmentation disorder W...

The ligand for the Kit receptor tyrosine kinase is Kit ligand (Kitl; also known as mast cell growth factor, stem cell factor, and Steel factor), which is encoded at the Steel (Sl) locus of mice. Previous studies revealed that Kitl(Sl) mutations have semidominant effects; mild pigmentation defects and macrocytic, hypoplastic anemia occur in heterozygous mice, and more severe pigmentation defects...

Phenotypic variation along environmental gradients can provide evidence suggesting local adaptation has shaped observed morphological disparities. These differences, in traits such as body and extremity size, as well as skin and coat pigmentation, may affect the overall fitness of individuals in their environments. The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is a marsupial that shows phenotypic...

Flavonone 3 hydroxylases (EC 1.14.11.9) are key enzymes in the synthesis of anthocyanins and other flavonoids. Such compounds involved seed coat colour stem pigmentation. Lupinus mutabilis (tarwi) is a legume crop domesticated Andean region, valued for high protein oil content its seeds. Tarwi accessions being selected cultivation Europe under defined breeding criteria. Seed patterns relevant t...

Seed coat color in soybean is determined by four alleles of the classically defined / (inhibitor) locus that controls the presence or absence as well as the spatial distribution of anthocyanin pigments in the seed coat. By analyzing spontaneous mutations of the / locus, we demonstrated that the / locus is a region of chalcone synthase (CHS) gene duplications. Paradoxically, deletions of CHS gen...

Genetic analysis of 12 lod conditioning morphological characteristics indicated several linkages in cowpea Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp). Using both backcross and F2 joint segregation data, these 12 lod were assigned to five linkage groups. The lod Pgfor nodal pigmentation, Pf for purple flower, Pc for smooth seed coat, Na for narrow eye, and Br for brown seed coat make up linkage group 1 with t...

Background: The dilution of color in rabbits is associated with many different genetic mechanisms that form groups. A number previous studies have revealed potential regulatory by which epigenetics regulate pigmentation. However, the genome-wide DNA methylation involved animal coat remains unknown. Results: We compared profiles Rex rabbit hair follicles a Chinchilla group (Ch) and diluted (DCh)...

1 Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-alimentari, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy. Correspondence to: [email protected], [email protected] AbStrAct Coat colour in Sus scrofa has been the matter of pioneering genetics studies carried out at the beginning of the last century. Since then, classical genetics studies have assumed that several loci affect this trait in pigs. W...

Intracellular trafficking is critical for delivering molecules and organelles to their proper destinations to carry out normal cellular functions. Disruption of intracellular trafficking has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative disorders. In addition, a number of genes involved in vesicle/organelle trafficking are also essential for pigmentation, and loss of those ge...