How Did the Mouse Get Its Color?

Scientists finally have the answer to this question. A team of researchers at Harvard University say a gene named Agouti is responsible for the color patterns in deer mice and possibly all vertebrates. The research appears this week in the journal Science.

"Taking advantage of the simple color pattern of deer mice -- which have a dark back and a light belly -- we showed that small changes in the activity of a single pigmentation gene in embryos generate big differences in adult color pattern,” says Marie Manceau, a research associate in Harvard’s Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology.

Small changes in Agouti gene expression could literally change the pattern of a leopard’s spots. In deer mice, natural selection determines the amount of Agouti expression, thus determining the color patterns that help them and other animals camouflage and hide from predators.

[Sources : Animal Descovery]