GEPHE SUMMARY Print
Gephebase Gene
Entry Status
Published
GepheID
GP00002251
Main curator
Martin
PHENOTYPIC CHANGE
Trait Category
Trait State in Taxon A
Domestic pigeon with bar plumage
Trait State in Taxon B
Checker and T-checker melanistic patterns ; observed in feral populations ; co-dominant
Ancestral State
Taxon A
Taxonomic Status
Taxon A
Latin Name
Common Name
rock pigeon
Synonyms
Columba livia domestica; rock pigeon; carrier pigeon; domestic pigeon; rock dove; Columba livia Gmelin, JF, 1789
Rank
species
Lineage
Show more ... erygii; Dipnotetrapodomorpha; Tetrapoda; Amniota; Sauropsida; Sauria; Archelosauria; Archosauria; Dinosauria; Saurischia; Theropoda; Coelurosauria; Aves; Neognathae; Columbiformes; Columbidae; Columba
NCBI Taxonomy ID
is Taxon A an Infraspecies?
No
Taxon B #1
Latin Name
Common Name
rock pigeon
Synonyms
Columba livia domestica; rock pigeon; carrier pigeon; domestic pigeon; rock dove; Columba livia Gmelin, JF, 1789
Rank
species
Lineage
Show more ... erygii; Dipnotetrapodomorpha; Tetrapoda; Amniota; Sauropsida; Sauria; Archelosauria; Archosauria; Dinosauria; Saurischia; Theropoda; Coelurosauria; Aves; Neognathae; Columbiformes; Columbidae; Columba
NCBI Taxonomy ID
is Taxon B an Infraspecies?
No
Taxon B #2
Latin Name
Common Name
speckled pigeon
Synonyms
speckled pigeon
Rank
species
Lineage
Show more ... erygii; Dipnotetrapodomorpha; Tetrapoda; Amniota; Sauropsida; Sauria; Archelosauria; Archosauria; Dinosauria; Saurischia; Theropoda; Coelurosauria; Aves; Neognathae; Columbiformes; Columbidae; Columba
NCBI Taxonomy ID
is Taxon B an Infraspecies?
No
GENOTYPIC CHANGE
Presumptive Null
Yes
Molecular Type
Aberration Type
Insertion Size
10-100 kb
Molecular Details of the Mutation
CNV driven by tandem repeats with one (bar) two (checker) or four (T-checker) copies per chromosome between approximative positions 1790000 and 1805600
Experimental Evidence
Authors
Vickrey AI; Bruders R; Kronenberg Z; Mackey E; Bohlender RJ; Maclary ET; Maynez R; Osborne EJ; et al. ... show more
Abstract
Birds and other vertebrates display stunning variation in pigmentation patterning, yet the genes controlling this diversity remain largely unknown. Rock pigeons (Columba livia) are fundamentally one of four color pattern phenotypes, in decreasing order of melanism: T-check, checker, bar (ancestral), or barless. Using whole-genome scans, we identified NDP as a candidate gene for this variation. Allele-specific expression differences in NDP indicate cis-regulatory divergence between ancestral and melanistic alleles. Sequence comparisons suggest that derived alleles originated in the speckled pigeon (Columba guinea), providing a striking example of introgression. In contrast, barless rock pigeons have an increased incidence of vision defects and, like human families with hereditary blindness, carry start-codon mutations in NDP. In summary, we find that both coding and regulatory variation in the same gene drives wing pattern diversity, and post-domestication introgression supplied potentially advantageous melanistic alleles to feral populations of this ubiquitous urban bird.

© 2018, Vickrey et al.
Additional References
EXTERNAL LINKS
COMMENTS
@Parallelism @AllelicSeries @Introgression @CNV ; introgressed from C. guinea and is common in feral populations
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