0000000000314896
AUTHOR
Ignas Bunikis
Regulatory changes in pterin and carotenoid genes underlie balanced color polymorphisms in the wall lizard
Significance Reptiles show an amazing color diversity based on variation in melanins, carotenoids, and pterins. This study reveals genes controlling differences between three color morphs (white, orange, and yellow) in the common wall lizard. Orange pigmentation, due to high levels of orange/red pterins in skin, is caused by genetic changes in the sepiapterin reductase gene. Yellow skin, showing high levels of yellow carotenoids, is controlled by the beta-carotene oxygenase 2 locus. Thus, the color polymorphism in the common wall lizard is associated with changes in two small regions of the genome containing genes with crucial roles in pterin and carotenoid metabolism. These genes are likel…
Whole genome sequencing of the black grouse (Tetrao tetrix): reference guided assembly suggests faster-Z and MHC evolution
Background The different regions of a genome do not evolve at the same rate. For example, comparative genomic studies have suggested that the sex chromosomes and the regions harbouring the immune defence genes in the Major Histocompatability Complex (MHC) may evolve faster than other genomic regions. The advent of the next generation sequencing technologies has made it possible to study which genomic regions are evolutionary liable to change and which are static, as well as enabling an increasing number of genome studies of non-model species. However, de novo sequencing of the whole genome of an organism remains non-trivial. In this study, we present the draft genome of the black grouse, wh…