title: Physiological and genetic characteristics of black-boned sheep (Ovis aries).
abstract: Here we report for the first time the discovery of sheep that have black bones and black muscles. The spectral pattern of pigment extracted from tissues of these black-boned sheep is similar to that of black-boned Chinese silky fowl. Additionally, black-boned sheep have significantly higher plasma colour, tyrosinase activity and kidney function than normal sheep. Synonymous nucleotide substitutions in the tyrosinase (TYR) and melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) genes were detected in black-boned sheep when compared with the corresponding sequences in normal sheep. In addition, a missense mutation (215T>C) in exon 2 of tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1) was detected in black-boned sheep, and this resulted in a putative valine-to-alanine substitution at codon 68 (Val68Ala).
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Provincial Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Kunming 650201, China. dwdxdm@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Y Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Huo
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gou
authors.forename: X W
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Mao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000502:physiology*; D002681:China; D007668:Kidney / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D010641:Phenotype; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D044102:Receptor, Melanocortin, Type 1 / Q000235:genetics; D012756:Sheep / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D044102:Receptor, Melanocortin, Type 1; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase