Genome-Wide Association Study Reveals the Genetic Basis of Duck Plumage Colors.

Plumage color is an artificially and naturally selected trait in domestic ducks. Black, white, and spotty are the main feather colors in domestic ducks. Previous studies have shown that black plumage color is caused by , and white plumage color is caused by . We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify candidate genes associated with white, black, and spotty plumage in ducks. Two non-synonymous SNPs in (c.52G>A and c.376G>A) were significantly related to duck black plumage, and three SNPs in (chr13:15411658A>G, chr13:15412570T>C and chr13:15412592C>G) were associated with white plumage. Additionally, we also identified the epistatic interactions between causing loci. Some ducks with white plumage carry the c.52G>A and c.376G>A in , which also compensated for black and spotty plumage color phenotypes, suggesting that and have an epistatic effect. The locus was supposed to be an upstream gene to underlying the white, black, and spotty colors. Although the specific mechanism remains to be further clarified, these findings support the importance of epistasis in plumage color variation in ducks.