Foot Feathering in Chickens Follows Pigeon Gene Regulation (IMAGE)

SMBE Journals (Molecular Biology and Evolution and Genome Biology and Evolution)

Foot Feathering in Chickens Follows Pigeon Gene Regulation

Caption

Not only are the same genes involved in foot feathering phenotypes in pigeons and chickens, but the nature of the mutations also very much the same. The study reveals a remarkable convergence in the evolution of the feathered leg phenotype in domestic chickens and domestic pigeons as this phenotype is caused by non-coding mutations upstream of the same two genes.

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USDA

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