Abstract
The crested ibis, one of the most endangered birds in the world, could benefit from research into its genetic diversity as a tool for conservation in the future. Tyrosinase is thought to play a major role in the production of common yellow to black melanins in birds. We have cloned and sequenced four exons of the crested ibis tyrosinase gene and discovered that the amino acid sequence has high similarity to zebra finch tyrosinase (93 %), followed by chicken (91 %) and quail (91 %). Some functional and structural domains in the crested ibis tyrosinase coding area were found to be conserved during evolution. Nine sequence variants were found in the partial coding sequence, one in exon 1 and eight in exon 4. Sequence variant 1 (SV1) shows intermediate polymorphism (0.25 < PIC < 0.5), and further study is needed to determine whether it can be used as a potential molecular marker in crested ibis artificial breeding programs.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the plan item of the Shaanxi Provincial Forestry Department of Science and Technology. We thank the workers at the crested ibis protection area for their sampling help in Yangxian, Shaanxi.
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Yang, J., Liu, X., Zhang, J. et al. Molecular Cloning and Biochemical Analysis of Tyrosinase from the Crested Ibis in China. Biochem Genet 50, 936–945 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10528-012-9533-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10528-012-9533-1