On February 1, the pigeon genome research results, which were jointly completed by the University of Utah and Shenzhen Huada Gene Research Institute, were published online in the journal Science. The study revealed the origin history of domestic pigeons at the molecular level, and discovered the genetic basis of pigeon crown diversity.
It is reported that pigeons are one of the few birds that have been sequenced. Their genomes, together with the genomes of domestic chickens, turkeys, zebras and budgerigars, will provide birds with population genetics and evolutionary biology. More clues.
The pigeons are domesticated from the original pigeons. At present, many different types of pigeons have been differentiated, such as ball-breasted pigeons and pigeons. Although all domestic pigeons originate from one species, they differ greatly in many traits. In order to study the genetic basis of the extremely rich phenotypic diversity of the pigeons, the researchers sequenced and assembled the whole genome of one of the domestic pigeon breeds, and conducted another 36 domestic pigeon breeds and 2 wild pigeons (returning wild habits) Resequencing.
Based on the genomics data obtained by this sequencing, the researchers found that there are many genetic similarities between pigeons in Iran and those in India. Researchers believe that in fact the main domestic pigeon breeds all originated in the Middle East. In addition, the researchers also analyzed the genomic data of the two wild pigeons and found that they are very similar in genetic level to the racing pigeon breeds, supporting the view that the wild pigeon population mainly comes from racing pigeons.
Through genome-wide population analysis, the researchers found that the EPhB2 gene plays a role as a switch gene in pigeon crown development. When the gene is normal, it does not have a crown; when it carries a homozygous mutant allele, it forms a feather crown. In addition to the evidence obtained from whole-genome resequencing, the researchers also performed genotype analysis and verification on the EPhB2 gene loci of 61 pigeons with crowns from other 22 breeds and 69 pigeons without crowns from 57 breeds.
HAIPENGDA Plastic Toys Co., Ltd. , http://www.hpdtoys.com