guide to different colors and patterning of pigeons
- Mutations in these genes can be responsible for skin diseases and conditions such as melanoma and albinism
- Pigeon breeders have drawn on their centuries-long experience to produce about 350 distinct pigeon breeds, focusing particularly on beak shape, plumage color and feather ornaments on the head, feet, beaks and elsewhere. But until this study, the specific mutations that control color in rock pigeons (Columba livia) were unknown.
- feather color is determined by different versions of these three genes – known as variants or alleles – and by what are called “epistatic” interactions, in which one gene obscures the effects of other genes.
- three major pigeon-color genes affect the relative proportions of major forms of the melanin pigment − eumelanin and pheomelanin − and their distribution within cells. Eumelanin provides black and brown pigmentation, while pheomelanin provides red and yellow pigmentation of feathers. Interplay among the three major genes is complex, resulting in diverse coloration of pigeons.”Mutations in one gene determine whether mutations in a second gene have an effect on an organism,” Domyan says. In other words, one gene can mask the effects of another in relation to pigeon color.
