Question

Hopi Hoekstra and colleagues were interested in whether lighter coat coloration arose

in Gulf and Atlantic coast populations through convergent evolution. How did they test this and what did they find?

Answer 1

in the Gulf and atlantic coast hopi Hoekstra and colleagues used QTL mapping to identify the genes which are involved to determine the color on the coats of the mice. Then, she studied how the color of the mice affects their chances of getting killed by ancestors. She did this by making hundreds of life-sized clay models of mice and put them in each type of habitat. Half of the imitation mice were dark and half were light.

they find that Lighter coats in the Gulf coasteffect of mutations to several genes involved in the pathway for pigmentation. One mutation changed a single amino acid in the melanocortin-1 receptor (Mc1r), decreasing the sensitivity of the receptor to signals that would otherwise lead to the production of dark pigmentation. A second mutation increased expression of Agouti.