Genetics of Egg Color in Chickens: Difference between revisions

From MicrobeWiki, the student-edited microbiology resource
Line 2: Line 2:
Zora Mosley
Zora Mosley


Chickens lay eggs in a variety of colors: white, brown, olive, green, blue, and many shades in between.  The color of a chicken's egg depends on their genetic makeup.  In this article, I will be exploring the genetics behind the egg color in chickens, specifically focusing on white, brown, and blue eggs.  Three pigments are known to be responsible for the color of chicken eggshells: protoporphyrin, biliverdin, and biliverdin-zinc chelate. <ref> Zheng, C. , Li, Z. , Yang, N. and Ning, Z. (2014), Candidate Genes Affecting Eggshell Color. Animal Science Journal, 85: 506-510. doi:10.1111/asj.12182 </ref> White eggs tend to have very little protoporphyrin, but in brown eggs, the main pigment is protoporphyrin.  Later, I will go through an in depth analysis of the genes that are read to create the pigment.  Blue egg color is a bit more complex as the phenotype arose only 200-500 years ago in the South American Mapuche fowl. Recent research has shown that blue egg color in chickens is actually due to an ancient retrovirus that copied itself into the chicken's genome.  
Chickens lay eggs in a variety of colors: white, brown, olive, green, blue, and many shades in between.  The color of a chicken's egg depends on their genetic makeup.  In this article, I will be exploring the genetics behind the egg color in chickens, specifically focusing on white, brown, and blue eggs.  Three pigments are known to be responsible for the color of chicken eggshells: protoporphyrin, biliverdin, and biliverdin-zinc chelate.  White eggs tend to have very little protoporphyrin, but in brown eggs, the main pigment is protoporphyrin.<ref> Zheng, C. , Li, Z. , Yang, N. and Ning, Z. (2014), Candidate Genes Affecting Eggshell Color. Animal Science Journal, 85: 506-510. doi:10.1111/asj.12182 </ref> Later, I will go through an in depth analysis of the genes that are read to create the pigment.  Blue egg color is a bit more complex as the phenotype arose only 200-500 years ago in the South American Mapuche fowl.<ref> University of Nottingham. "Unscrambling the genetics of the chicken's 'blue' egg." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 August 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130820083654.htm>.</ref>. Recent research has shown that blue egg color in chickens is actually due to an ancient retrovirus that copied itself into the chicken's genome.  
Source: https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.libproxy.kenyon.edu/doi/abs/10.1111/asj.12182
Source: https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.libproxy.kenyon.edu/doi/abs/10.1111/asj.12182
Source 2: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130820083654.htm
Source 2: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130820083654.htm

Revision as of 13:38, 8 November 2019

Introduction

Zora Mosley

Chickens lay eggs in a variety of colors: white, brown, olive, green, blue, and many shades in between. The color of a chicken's egg depends on their genetic makeup. In this article, I will be exploring the genetics behind the egg color in chickens, specifically focusing on white, brown, and blue eggs. Three pigments are known to be responsible for the color of chicken eggshells: protoporphyrin, biliverdin, and biliverdin-zinc chelate. White eggs tend to have very little protoporphyrin, but in brown eggs, the main pigment is protoporphyrin.[1] Later, I will go through an in depth analysis of the genes that are read to create the pigment. Blue egg color is a bit more complex as the phenotype arose only 200-500 years ago in the South American Mapuche fowl.[2]. Recent research has shown that blue egg color in chickens is actually due to an ancient retrovirus that copied itself into the chicken's genome. Source: https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.libproxy.kenyon.edu/doi/abs/10.1111/asj.12182 Source 2: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130820083654.htm


Select a topic about genetics or evolution in a specific organism or ecosystem.
The topic must include one section about microbes (bacteria, viruses, fungi, or protists). This is easy because all organisms and ecosystems have microbes.

Compose a title for your page.
Type your exact title in the Search window, then press Go. The MicrobeWiki will invite you to create a new page with this title.

Open the BIOL 116 Class 2019 template page in "edit."
Copy ALL the text from the edit window.
Then go to YOUR OWN page; edit tab. PASTE into your own page, and edit.

Nosowitz, Dan. "Colored Eggs." "Find A Blue Chicken Egg? Congrats, Your Chicken Has A Virus." Popular Science, 13 Sept. 2013, https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-09/find-blue-chicken-egg-congrats-your-chicken-has-virus/, Accessed 7 Nov. 2019.


At right is a sample image insertion. It works for any image uploaded anywhere to MicrobeWiki. The insertion code consists of:
Double brackets: [[
Filename: PHIL_1181_lores.jpg
Thumbnail status: |thumb|
Pixel size: |300px|
Placement on page: |right|
Legend/credit: Electron micrograph of the Ebola Zaire virus. This was the first photo ever taken of the virus, on 10/13/1976. By Dr. F.A. Murphy, now at U.C. Davis, then at the CDC.
Closed double brackets: ]]

Other examples:
Bold
Italic
Subscript: H2O
Superscript: Fe3+




Section 1 Genetics

Include some current research, with at least one image.

Sample citations: [3] [4]

A citation code consists of a hyperlinked reference within "ref" begin and end codes.

Section 2 Microbiome

Include some current research, with a second image.

Conclusion

Overall text length should be at least 1,000 words (before counting references), with at least 2 images. Include at least 5 references under Reference section.

References

  1. Zheng, C. , Li, Z. , Yang, N. and Ning, Z. (2014), Candidate Genes Affecting Eggshell Color. Animal Science Journal, 85: 506-510. doi:10.1111/asj.12182
  2. University of Nottingham. "Unscrambling the genetics of the chicken's 'blue' egg." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 August 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130820083654.htm>.
  3. Hodgkin, J. and Partridge, F.A. "Caenorhabditis elegans meets microsporidia: the nematode killers from Paris." 2008. PLoS Biology 6:2634-2637.
  4. Bartlett et al.: Oncolytic viruses as therapeutic cancer vaccines. Molecular Cancer 2013 12:103.


Edited by [Author Name], student of Joan Slonczewski for BIOL 116 Information in Living Systems, 2019, Kenyon College.