Biomaterial Database

Genome of the Malawi golden cichlid fish (Melanochromis auratus) reveals exon loss of oca2 in an amelanistic morph. 2019

Claudius F Kratochwil, and Sabine Urban, and Axel Meyer

Department of Biology, Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.

The tropical freshwater fish family Cichlidae is famous for its record-breaking rates of speciation and diversity in colors and color patterns. Here, we sequenced the genome of the Lake Malawi cichlid Melanochromis auratus to study the genetic basis of an amelanistic morph of this species that lacks the typical melanic stripes and markings. Genome sequencing of the amelanistic and wild-type morph revealed the loss of the second exon of the known pigmentation gene oculocutaneous albinism II (oca2), also known as p(ink-eyed dilution) gene or melanocyte-specific transporter gene. Additional genotyping confirms the complete association with this recessive Mendelian phenotype. The deletion results in a shorter transcript, lacking an acidic di-leucine domain that is crucial for trafficking of the Oca2 protein to melanosomes. The fact that oca2 is involved in a wide range of amelanistic morphs across vertebrates demonstrates its highly conserved function.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008295	Malawi	A republic in southern Africa east of ZAMBIA and MOZAMBIQUE. Its capital is Lilongwe. It was formerly called Nyasaland.	Nyasaland,Republic of Malawi
D005091	Exons	The parts of a transcript of a split GENE remaining after the INTRONS are removed. They are spliced together to become a MESSENGER RNA or other functional RNA.	Mini-Exon,Exon,Mini Exon,Mini-Exons
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D016115	Albinism, Oculocutaneous	Heterogeneous group of autosomal recessive disorders comprising at least four recognized types, all having in common varying degrees of hypopigmentation of the skin, hair, and eyes. The two most common are the tyrosinase-positive and tyrosinase-negative types.	Albinism, Tyrosinase-Negative,Albinism, Tyrosinase-Positive,Albinism, Yellow-Mutant,Oculocutaneous Albinism,Yellow Mutant Albinism,Albinism, Tyrosinase Negative,Albinism, Tyrosinase Positive,Albinism, Yellow Mutant,Mutant Albinism, Yellow,Mutant Albinisms, Yellow,Tyrosinase-Negative Albinism,Tyrosinase-Positive Albinism,Yellow-Mutant Albinism
D016678	Genome	The genetic complement of an organism, including all of its GENES, as represented in its DNA, or in some cases, its RNA.	Genomes
D023681	Cichlids	Common name for perch-like fish of the family Cichlidae, belonging to the suborder Labroidei, order PERCIFORMES.	Cichlid Fish,Oreochromis niloticus,Tilapia nilotica,Cichlidae,Nile Tilapia,Oreochromis nilotica,Cichlid,Fish, Cichlid
D026901	Membrane Transport Proteins	Membrane proteins whose primary function is to facilitate the transport of molecules across a biological membrane. Included in this broad category are proteins involved in active transport (BIOLOGICAL TRANSPORT, ACTIVE), facilitated transport and ION CHANNELS.	Biological Pump,Membrane Transport Protein,Membrane Transporter,Membrane Transporters,Metabolic Pump,Permease,Biological Pumps,Metabolic Pumps,Permeases,Pump, Biologic,Pump, Biological,Pump, Metabolic,Pumps, Biological,Pumps, Metabolic,Biologic Pump,Protein, Membrane Transport,Transport Protein, Membrane,Transport Proteins, Membrane,Transporter, Membrane,Transporters, Membrane
D029941	Fish Proteins	Proteins obtained from species of fish (FISHES).	Fish Protein,Protein, Fish,Proteins, Fish