Feather Gene Expression Elucidates the Developmental Basis of Plumage Iridescence in African Starlings.

ABSTRACT: Iridescence is widespread in the living world, occurring in organisms as diverse as bacteria, plants, and animals. Yet, compared to pigment-based forms of coloration, we know surprisingly little about the developmental and molecular bases of the structural colors that give rise to iridescence. Birds display a rich diversity of iridescent structural colors that are produced in feathers by the arrangement of melanin-containing organelles called melanosomes into nanoscale configurations, but how these often unusually shaped melanosomes form, or how they are arranged into highly organized nanostructures, remains largely unknown. Here, we use functional genomics to explore the developmental basis of iridescent plumage using superb starlings (Lamprotornis superbus), which produce both iridescent

SUBMITTER: Rubenstein DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11502951 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature