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Agouti is linked to the wideband gene, with about a 30% crossover rate. [33] Like white bellied agouti mice, rabbits with wildtype agouti produce transcripts with different untranslated 5' ends that have different dorsal and ventral expression. The 1A exon is only expressed in the belly region and may be responsible for the lighter color there. [3]
In 2003, Jirtle provided molecular evidence that maternal dietary supplementation of Agouti viable yellow (A vy) mice with methyl donors (i.e. folic acid, choline, vitamin B 12, and betaine) altered the coat color distribution and disease susceptibility in genetically identical offspring by increasing DNA methylation at the A vy locus.
Agouti-signaling protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ASIP gene. [5] [6] It is responsible for the distribution of melanin pigment in mammals.[7] [8] Agouti interacts with the melanocortin 1 receptor to determine whether the melanocyte (pigment cell) produces phaeomelanin (a red to yellow pigment), or eumelanin (a brown to black pigment). [9]
Recently, Hoekstra has found evidence linking the mutation the Agouti gene to survival in mice. [16] More specifically, the study showed how a sequence variant in the Agouti gene changes the phenotype and then linked those changes to changes in population allele frequency, demonstrating evolution of trait by natural selection. [17]
In a mice model, the mice fed on a BPA diet were more likely to have a yellow coat corresponding to their lower methylation state in the promoter regions of the retrotransposon upstream of the Agouti gene. The Agouti gene is responsible for determining whether an animal's coat will be banded (agouti) or solid (non-agouti).
The agouti (/ ə ˈ ɡ uː t iː / ⓘ, ə-GOO-tee) or common agouti is many of several rodent species of the genus Dasyprocta. They are native to Central America , northern and central South America , and the southern Lesser Antilles .
The Huffington Post
The appearance of mammals with recessive agouti mutations is typically dense black. As with aeumelanism, the difference between lack of phaeomelanin and abundance of eumelanin is one of words. Some agouti alleles in mice are associated with health defects, but this is not the case in dogs, cats, or horses.