Characterization of Japanese quail yellow as a genomic deletion upstream of the avian homolog of the mammalian ASIP (agouti) gene.

ABSTRACT: ASIP is an important pigmentation gene responsible for dorsoventral and hair-cycle-specific melanin-based color patterning in mammals. We report some of the first evidence that the avian ASIP gene has a role in pigmentation. We have characterized the genetic basis of the homozygous lethal Japanese quail yellow mutation as a >90-kb deletion upstream of ASIP. This deletion encompasses almost the entire coding sequence of two upstream loci, RALY and EIF2B, and places ASIP expression under control of the RALY promoter, leading to the presence of a novel transcript. ASIP mRNA expression was upregulated in many tissues in yellow compared to wild type but was not universal, and consistent differences were not observed among skins of yellow and wild-type quail. In a microarray analysis on developi

SUBMITTER: Nadeau NJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2248353 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature