A novel codominant plumage color pattern of white breast patches in WugangTong geese was controlled by EDNRB2

作者：Yunzhou Yang, Huiying Wang, Yi Liu, Shaojia Zhai, Haodong Liu, Daqian He · 发表于：Poultry Science · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1016/j.psj.2024.104324 · 被引用次数：7 · 研究领域：melanin and skin pigmentation、Meat and Animal Product Quality、Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock

Two basic plumage color patterns are observed in adult geese: solid grey ( G ) or colorless white ( W ). However, a Chinese indigenous breed, the Wugangtong goose ( WGT ), continues to be subject to selective breeding efforts as it displays segregation of plumage colors, including G, W , and a novel color pattern designated Wb ( G with white breast circles). The underlying genetic mechanisms responsible for the Wb phenotype are yet to be determined. The current study employed the population differentiation index ( F ST ) to analyze 90 geese exhibiting diverse plumage colors, identifying the fifth intron of EDNRB2 as a particularly noteworthy region with the highest F ST values. Sanger sequencing of the region surrounding the EDNRB2 gene identified a 14-bp insertion within exon 3 as the causal mutation. The heterozygosity of this 14-bp insertion and wild-type alleles was completely associated with the Wb phenotype, thereby substantiating the codominant nature of the G and W phenotypes. An inter-species corroborated this finding cross between the graylag (no 14-bp insertion) and the swan goose (homozygous for the 14-bp insertion) breeds, as hybrids from this cross exhibited the Wb phenotype. Transcriptomes from white breast patches and gray dorsal skins of 4 Wb geese were compared. A significant downregulation of genes involved in melanin synthesis and melanocyte development was observed, including EDRNB2 and MLANA . The downregulation of MLANA indicated that the mutated EDNRB2...