The Colorful Life of Bird Eggs - Chickens and Turkeys

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The egg color saga continues as Fatu and Shekerah look into how domesticated birds like chickens and turkeys got their egg colors. In the previous episode, we learned that the breed of chicken is responsible for egg color and this is all linked to the genetics of the rooster and hen. In the US for example, Leghorn chickens are the most common breed for egg-laying and they always produce white eggs, while Orpington’s lay brown eggs and Ameraucana lay blue eggs. Through many years of research, scientists have discovered exactly which genes in chickens are associated with egg color. For chickens that lay blue eggs like the Ameraucana and Dongxiang they both have the SLCO1B3 gene. And even more interesting, this gene has a specific mutation caused by an avian retrovirus that directly changes the way this gene is expressed to produce the blue egg color. So it is both the presence of the SLCO1B3 gene and the avian retrovirus mutation in Ameraucana and Dongxiang that is responsible for the trait of blue egg color. Even with the whole spectrum of the colors available to chicken eggs, consumer preference and culture ultimately determine what color eggs are sold around the world. Europeans have different color preferences compared to Americans and Japanese and this leads to the different egg colors across countries. To hear more about chicken egg color, and even turkey egg color listen to the episode. 

Tune into this episode to learn more about:

Bird egg color, genetics, and evolutionWhat specific genes are associated with bird egg color and how those genes are passed down with each generationHow an avian retrovirus is connected to blue gg colorTurkey eggs and how they get their colors

If you enjoyed this episode, check out one more:

Ep 44: The Colorful Life of Bird EggsEp 38: The Secret behind CRISPR Gene EditingEp 39: The Art of Science - The Work

Sources:
Refine localizations of functional variants affecting eggshell color of Lueyang black-boned chicken in the SLCO1B3

An EAV-HP Insertion in 5′ Flanking Region of SLCO1B3 Causes Blue Eggshell in the Chicken

Reach out to Fatu:
www.linkedin.com/in/fatubm
Twitter: @thee_fatu_b
and [email protected]

Reach out to Shekerah:
www.linkedin.com/in/shekerah-primus
and [email protected]

Music from Pixabay: Future Artificial Intelligence Technology 130 by TimMoor
Music from https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes: Hotshot by ScottHolmesMusic