IRAI14/i in the blood feather regulates chicken pigmentation

Abstract

A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed on a resource family consisting of white and colored chickens for identification of genes related to plumage coloration using the Fixed and random model Circulating Probability Unification (FarmCPU) package. GWAS identified three chromosomal single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), demonstrating the polygenic basis of plumage phenotypes. Herein, retinoic acid-induced protein 14 (iRAI14/i), a developmentally regulated gene that encodes a protein containing many ankyrin repeats, was identified as a candidate gene involved in plumage color. In this study, mRNA expression profiles of chicken iRAI14/i were determined, indel (insertion-deletion) variants were identified, and their association was analyzed in white and colored chickens. iRA114/i mRNA was expressed in all tissues tested (brain, spleen, liver, heart, oviduct, kidney, lung, pituitary gland, ovary, muscle, feather bulb, and skin). A relatively high iRAI14/i expression in white feather bulb compared to colored feather bulb (span classCombining double low line"inline-formula"iP/ii