Liu Hong-Yi, He Ke, Ge Yun-Fa, Wan Qiu-Hong, Fang Sheng-Guo
MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, State Conservation Centre for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Jan 22;11(2):276. doi: 10.3390/ani11020276.
Ornamental feather coloration is usually a reflection of male quality and plays an important role during courtship, whereas the essence of male quality at the genetic level is not well understood. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-based mate choice has been observed in various vertebrates. Here, we investigated the relationship between the coloration of cape feathers and the MHC genotypes in golden pheasants (). We found that feather coloration differed sharply among different individuals (brightness: 1827.20 ± 759.43, chroma: 1241.90 ± 468.21, hue: 0.46 ± 0.06). Heterozygous individuals at the most polymorphic MHC locus (IA2) had brighter feathers than homozygous individuals (Z = -2.853, = 0.004) and were more saturated in color (Z = -2.853, = 0.004). However, feather coloration was not related to other MHC loci or to overall genetic heterozygosity ( > 0.050). Our study suggested that coloration of cape feathers might signal IA2 genotypes in golden pheasants.
观赏性羽毛的颜色通常反映雄性的品质，并且在求偶过程中发挥重要作用，然而在基因层面上雄性品质的本质尚未得到充分理解。基于主要组织相容性复合体（MHC）的配偶选择在各种脊椎动物中都有观察到。在此，我们研究了红腹锦鸡颈羽颜色与MHC基因型之间的关系。我们发现不同个体之间的羽毛颜色差异显著（亮度：1827.20±759.43，色度：1241.90±468.21，色调：0.46±0.06）。在多态性最高的MHC位点（IA2）上的杂合个体比纯合个体的羽毛更亮（Z = -2.853，P = 0.004），并且颜色饱和度更高（Z = -2.853，P = 0.004）。然而，羽毛颜色与其他MHC位点或总体遗传杂合性无关（P>0.050）。我们的研究表明，红腹锦鸡颈羽的颜色可能标志着IA2基因型。
