A window on the genetics of evolution: MC1Rand plumage colouration in birds
Melanins are a ubiquitous component of plumage colouration in birds and serve a wide variety of functions. Although the genetic control of melanism has been studied in chickens and other domestic species, little was known about the molecular genetics of melanin distribution in wild birds until recen...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3107 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2005.3107 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2005.3107 |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2005.3107 2024-06-23T07:50:22+00:00 A window on the genetics of evolution: MC1Rand plumage colouration in birds Mundy, Nicholas I 2005 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3107 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2005.3107 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2005.3107 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 272, issue 1573, page 1633-1640 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2005 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3107 2024-06-10T04:15:08Z Melanins are a ubiquitous component of plumage colouration in birds and serve a wide variety of functions. Although the genetic control of melanism has been studied in chickens and other domestic species, little was known about the molecular genetics of melanin distribution in wild birds until recently. Studies have now revealed that a single locus, the melanocortin-1 receptor ( MC1R ) locus, is responsible for melanic polymorphisms in at least three unrelated species: the bananaquit, the snow goose and the arctic skua. Results show that melanism was a derived trait and allow other evolutionary inferences about the history of melanism to be made. The role of MC1R in plumage patterning is surprisingly diverse among different species. The conserved molecular basis for the evolution of melanism in birds and several other vertebrates is probably related to low pleiotropic effects at the MC1R . Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic skua The Royal Society Arctic Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 272 1573 1633 1640 |
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Open Polar |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Melanins are a ubiquitous component of plumage colouration in birds and serve a wide variety of functions. Although the genetic control of melanism has been studied in chickens and other domestic species, little was known about the molecular genetics of melanin distribution in wild birds until recently. Studies have now revealed that a single locus, the melanocortin-1 receptor ( MC1R ) locus, is responsible for melanic polymorphisms in at least three unrelated species: the bananaquit, the snow goose and the arctic skua. Results show that melanism was a derived trait and allow other evolutionary inferences about the history of melanism to be made. The role of MC1R in plumage patterning is surprisingly diverse among different species. The conserved molecular basis for the evolution of melanism in birds and several other vertebrates is probably related to low pleiotropic effects at the MC1R . |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mundy, Nicholas I |
spellingShingle |
Mundy, Nicholas I A window on the genetics of evolution: MC1Rand plumage colouration in birds |
author_facet |
Mundy, Nicholas I |
author_sort |
Mundy, Nicholas I |
title |
A window on the genetics of evolution: MC1Rand plumage colouration in birds |
title_short |
A window on the genetics of evolution: MC1Rand plumage colouration in birds |
title_full |
A window on the genetics of evolution: MC1Rand plumage colouration in birds |
title_fullStr |
A window on the genetics of evolution: MC1Rand plumage colouration in birds |
title_full_unstemmed |
A window on the genetics of evolution: MC1Rand plumage colouration in birds |
title_sort |
window on the genetics of evolution: mc1rand plumage colouration in birds |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3107 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2005.3107 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2005.3107 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic skua |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic skua |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 272, issue 1573, page 1633-1640 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3107 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
272 |
container_issue |
1573 |
container_start_page |
1633 |
op_container_end_page |
1640 |
_version_ |
1802641252121837568 |