How Mutations Work ?

[petparrot]

I always wonder how a new mutation (for the very first time) come into existence ?

For example, as everyone knows that natural (wild) color of Rose-ringed parakeet is Green.

Now, how any breeder manage to create say for example, "Blue" mutation ?

Is it some kind of diet that helps to produce your desire mutation ? I have read somewhere that people in Europe in the past give alot of Red color in the food of Canaries to produce Red color and they did succeeded in producing Red. When those Red canaries were sold to new owners, then their Red color faded after some time as new owner gave the regular diet without any artificial red colors involved.

But, back to my first example of "Blue" mutation in Rose-ringed parakeet, it is permanently Blue no-matter what diet or colors are given in their diets. i.e. Blue mutation does not fade over a certain period of time.

It is quite surprising that a Father and Mother are both Green and then a baby is born Blue !

So, how a new permanent color mutation is born ? What factors play important role ?

I dont know about color genetics so please explain in very simple words.

 

[HolliDaze]

A mutation is Just that, a mutation. Usually two parents each pass half their genes, but the genes will sometimes change themselves, ever so slightly. Usually it’s small, not even noticeable. Other times, it can mean the baby is born half the size or with some deformity. And sometimes, it changes to color of the animal. It keeps those genes, and passes them on.

Dog breeds are the result of mutations (that are encouraged And exaggerated over many years) as are animal mutations, cow breeds, albino anything (If theyre wild 99/100 they are first generation mutation). Even plants such as different kinds of apples, oranges, etc. are mutations.

 

[tka]

Basically, mutations happen when something goes wrong when copying the genetic material when making egg and sperm cells. All of us carry loads of mutations. Some are visible - like the first person to have blue eyes, or the first bird to show a particular colour mutation. Many are invisible and we won't know if they are there unless we have some kind of genetic screening. Lots of mutations are benign: this means that they're just there, and don't have any positive or negative effect. Some are harmful - for example, mutations that cause too much mucus to be produced in people with Cystic Fibrosis, or mutations that mean some people are unable to digest certain foods like lactose or gluten. Some are beneficial - the mutation that causes pale skin is great in Northern Europe because it allows for more vitamin D to be absorbed. Some mutations are a bit good but also a bit bad. Sickle cell anaemia is the classic example here: it means that people suffer from anaemia and their blood cells are prone to clumping, causing blockages in blood vessels. This is bad - HOWEVER, sickle cell anaemia also confers a degree of protection against malaria.This means that someone with sickle cell anaemia is likely to have health issues but is also less likely to die of malaria, and therefore more likely to be able to pass on their genes.

Mutations stay in the population as long as the living being (animal, plant, fungus) is able to reproduce. That means it basically has to live to reproductive age, has to find a mate, and have babies (or seeds, or spores, or whatever). Note that I said reproductive age - not necessarily old age. Even if you carry a mutation that will cause you to get sick and die in your 50s, you will have reached reproductive age and been able to have kids. This potentially passes that mutation on.

Right, now let's talk about colour genetics. Colour is hugely complicated but let's simplify this by saying that a bird has two colour genes. It gets one colour gene from its mum and one from its dad. If mum is green and dad is green, then the baby will be green.

However, parrots can have genes for different colours. One gene is more dominant and "hides" the other. So a bird can have a green gene from mum and a blue gene from dad, but because green is dominant, our baby will look green. A bird has to get blue genes from both parents to be blue.

Green birds have an advantage in the wild. They blend in nicely with the leaves so predators don't eat them. Blue birds are more likely to be seen by predators and get eaten, so they aren't as likely to live long enough to pass on their genes.

Some of our green birds have two green genes. But remember, some of our green birds have one green gene and one blue gene. They only look green. If they mate with another bird with one green gene and one blue gene, 25% of their babies will have two green genes, 25% of their babies will have two blue genes and 50% of their babies will be like their parents, with one green gene and one blue gene.

The blue mutation has probably existed for a long time but isn't often expressed in the wild due to blue birds being more visible and more likely to get eaten as juveniles. However, the mutation continued to lurk about, unseen. Having one green gene and one blue gene doesn't make a bird any more vulnerable to predators so there was no reason to eradicate it completely. Domesticated parrots are less likely to be eaten by a predator, and humans are drawn to pretty unusual colours. We noticed that this blue colour existed and started to selectively breed for it i.e. began mating birds carrying that gene together for the purpose of creating blue birds.

Obviously it's a lot more complicated but I hope this made sense!

 

[Mizzely]

It's a lot about Dominant and Recessive traits. Green is, by default, a dominant trait, just like someone with brown hair is dominant trait.

My Husband and I are both not red heads, but our son is. Why? Because we both carried a recessive trait for red hair. If you mix a Dominant trait with a recessive trait, the Dominant trait will overpower the recessive, but that bird is now a carrier for that gene.

To further complicate it, some things are sex linked- that is they only appear on one of the chromosomes.

Beginner Guide to Genes, Mutations and Hybrids

 

[Serin]

In rare cases, the blue mutation has occurred and become stabilized in wild species. The blue lorikeet, Vini peruviana, of French Polynesia is a blue and white bird that seems to show the same gene that also produces the blue series rainbow lorikeet in captivity. There are no green and red members of this species left, but its ancestors were probably green and red, like its closest living relatives, and for one reason or another, the blue mutation predominated in the population until all birds were that color.

Blue-crowned lorikeet, Vini australis - one of the blue lorkeet's closest relatives.

It is very easy to see how the removal of the yellow/red pigments in one mutation would render this bird blue and white.

 

[Dona]

So interesting. My father had blue eyes, mother had green. I have hazel eyes and have 2 blue eyed children.

 

[tka]

@Dona yes, colour (hair, eyes, feather) is actually a lot more complex than that - it's actually a cluster of genes that all interact to produce the phenotype. You must have some very interesting genes! Sadly I have dark brown eyes and every single member of my genetically related family has brown eyes, so I'm unlikely to have any interesting recessives when it comes to eye colour.

 

[Monica]

I always wonder how a new mutation (for the very first time) come into existence ?

For example, as everyone knows that natural (wild) color of Rose-ringed parakeet is Green.

Now, how any breeder manage to create say for example, "Blue" mutation ?

As mentioned, it's when information in the genetic code getting passed down to offspring gets "messed up". Not necessarily a good example, but blue + yellow = green.

Blue, for example, is the reduction of "psittacin" (psittacofulvin), which is what produces reds and yellows. Therefore, you get blue ringnecks.

Yellow on the other hand is the reduction of melanin, which controls blacks and browns. You remove melanin and you get a lutino (aka yellow) bird.

The following page goes into more detail than the previous article that was linked to, but that's a pretty basic understanding of it!

Little Feathered Buddies coloration mechanics

Or a much simpler explanation here...

What Gives Feathers Their Color | Parrot Parrot


However, mutations can be dominant (expressed same regardless if they carry one or two genes), recessive (one gene to be split [they carry the gene, but they are not visual for it], two to be visual), sex-linked (females can only carry one gene and thus will always be visual if they have it, males require two genes in order to be visual, otherwise they are split for the mutation), incomplete dominant (one gene to be single factor visual, and they show the mutation, two genes to be double factor visual and appear differently), co-dominant (when two separate genes/mutations interact to form a halfway point between the two mutations)

Is it some kind of diet that helps to produce your desire mutation ? I have read somewhere that people in Europe in the past give alot of Red color in the food of Canaries to produce Red color and they did succeeded in producing Red. When those Red canaries were sold to new owners, then their Red color faded after some time as new owner gave the regular diet without any artificial red colors involved.

Actually, the red factor canaries came about by hybridizing the canary with a red siskin finch. Canaries cannot naturally produce red coloration on their own. The gene was introduced via hybridization which took time to get a healthy, breeding colony going. Once the gene for the red expression was introduced, canaries that were fed a "red dye" diet could produce red colored feathers. Much like flamingos. They are not naturally pink! They are white (grey) birds! However, their diet causes them to turn pink. Remove that from their diet and they revert to white (grey).

It is quite surprising that a Father and Mother are both Green and then a baby is born Blue !

This indicates that the parents are both split for blue, which means that they either had one parent that was visually blue, or at least one parent (if not both) that were split blue. If you pair two birds that are green and both split blue, then you'll get green, green split blue, and blue offspring.

So, how a new permanent color mutation is born ? What factors play important role ?

The short of it... genetics.


My grandmother is half Filippino. She has black hair (well, salt and pepper now-a-days... mainly salty...) and dark skin. All of her older siblings were fair skinned, blonde hair and blue eyes. She married a man with black hair and had three daughters, all with black hair as well. (skin tone varies between "dark" and "light" now-a-days) My mother, the oldest, had two daughters. My sister was born blonde haired and blue eyed. She has (med/dark) brown hair and brown eyes as an adult, skin ranges from pasty white (vitaligo) to "light tan". Her kids, like her, were born blonde hair, blue eyed. (father dirty blonde, blue eyed). The oldest child has brown eyes, the youngest blue/grey eyes. Both dirty blonde haired. I was born with light brown hair, brown eyes. As an adult, my hair is dark brown (some people even call it black... it's not black!) and my skin ranges from "light tan" to "dark tan". Our father has medium brown hair and hazel to brown eyes. My "middle" aunt has one daughter. She was born with fair(ish) skin and black hair with brown eyes. Her father had fair skin and black hair. My "youngest" aunt has two children. I don't really know what their father looks like, but her daughter was born fair skinned, blonde hair and blue eyes. Still has blue eyes and (dark) blonde hair. Her kids are all fair skinned with light brown to blonde hair. My "youngest" aunt's youngest child is fair skinned and dark brown hair, brown eyes. He has three kids with dirty blonde/blue, dirty blonde/brown and light brown/hazel colors (hair/eyes), even though their mother has brown hair, hazel eyes.

My grandmother and at least two of my aunts, despite having black hair and brown eyes, carried the blue eyed/blond hair genes. It was therefore hidden for at least two generations, and up to four generations, before it appeared. I don't have kids of my own, nor do I plan on it, so who knows if I carry the hidden genes or not! Goes to show though how intricate genetics can be! (and confusing! lol)

 

[simon777]

My dad freaked when he tried to grow a beard. He had dark brown hair but the beard came out bright red.
And what about those poor white women who were accused of cheating when they had dark skinned babies.

 

[Monica]

My dad freaked when he tried to grow a beard. He had dark brown hair but the beard came out bright red.

I know a couple men with blond hair and ginger beards... lol

And what about those poor white women who were accused of cheating when they had dark skinned babies.

That one I actually find quite interesting! I looked into that some years ago as I was curious. Came across a story of a couple that had a black child together, but both parents were white. As it turns out, each had a grandparent that was black.

 

[Yoshi&Raphi]

Genetics are so fascinating!

 

[petparrot]

Also many species of parrots or other birds take very little time to develop a new mutation while other species take 20-30 years to come up with just a single new mutation. Still there are many species of parrots and other birds that have no mutation at all even though they have been in collections of many breeders for decades.