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. 2020 May 20;16(5):e1008274. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008274

Fig 5. Almond and non-Almond feather buds have distinct gene expression profiles.

Fig 5

(A) Exons assayed within the CNV show expression differences in Almond feather buds compared to non-Almond. Boxplots show the results of qRT-PCR assays designed to assess gene expression of exons located in the CNV region. Fusion gene expression results are from qPCR primers spanning exon 7 of Ermp1 into exon 5 of Kiaa2026. (B) Exons assayed outside the CNV show no expression differences in Almond feather buds compared to non-Almond. This indicates expression differences are specific to exons inside the CNV. (C) Expression of melanocyte-related genes. qRT-PCR results indicate a decrease in expression of several genes involved in melanin production in Almond feather buds. (D) Model of interactions among genes and signaling pathways involved in different aspects of pigment synthesis. Gray boxes indicate pathways discussed in the text but not directly represented in our expression analyses. NA, feather buds from non-Almond individuals with wild type alleles at St; DA, dark Almond feather buds from hemizygous and heterozygous Almond individuals; LA, light Almond feather buds from hemizygous and heterozygous Almond individuals; HA, feather buds from a homozygous Almond individual. Bar in each box represents the median, box ends indicate upper and lower quartiles, whiskers indicate the highest and lowest value excluding outliers. Different letters indicate groups with statistically significant differences in gene expression determined by ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey test (p<0.05).