@article{5531c6c9a10947bcba26934e42a5a0e0,
title = "A genetic mechanism for sexual dichromatism in birds",
abstract = "Sexual dichromatism, a difference in coloration between males and females, may be due to sexual selection for ornamentation and mate choice. Here, we show that carotenoid-based dichromatism in mosaic canaries, a hybrid phenotype that arises in offspring of the sexually dichromatic red siskin and monochromatic canaries, is controlled by the gene that encodes the carotenoid-cleaving enzyme b-carotene oxygenase 2 (BCO2). Dichromatism in mosaic canaries is explained by differential carotenoid degradation in the integument, rather than sex-specific variation in physiological functions such as pigment uptake or transport. Transcriptome analyses suggest that carotenoid degradation in the integument might be a common mechanism contributing to sexual dichromatism across finches. These results suggest that differences in ornamental coloration between sexes can evolve through simple molecular mechanisms controlled by genes of major effect.",
author = "Gazda, {Ma{\l}gorzata A.} and Ara{\'u}jo, {Pedro M.} and Lopes, {Ricardo J.} and Toomey, {Matthew B.} and Pedro Andrade and Sandra Afonso and Cristiana Marques and Lu{\'i}s Nunes and Paulo Pereira and Sandra Trigo and Hill, {Geoffrey E.} and Corbo, {Joseph C.} and Miguel Carneiro",
note = "Funding Information: We thank A. C. Lemo (mosaic and siskin), C. Loukeris (canaries from Fig. 1 and F1 hybrid), S. Cherrug (canaries from Fig. 4), M. Carlo (male house finch), B. Richmond (serin male), and D. Williams (serin female) for providing photographs. We also thank Ibanidis Lda (Versele-Laga distributor) for food supplements and cages. This work was supported by the Funda{\c c}{\~a}o para a Ci{\^e}ncia e Tecnologia (FCT) through POPH-QREN funds from the European Social Fund and Portuguese MCTES (IF/00283/2014/ CP1256/CT0012 and CEECINST/00014/2018); by National Funds [Transitory Norm contract to R.J.L. (DL57/2016/CP1440/ CT0006)]; by research fellowships attributed to M.A.G. (PD/BD/ 114042/2015), P.A. (PD/BD/114028/2015), and P.P. (PD/BD/ 128492/2017) in the scope of the Biodiversity, Genetics, and Evolution (BIODIV) Ph.D. program; and by the project “PTDC/BIA-EVL/31569/2017 - NORTE -01-0145-FEDER-30288,” cofunded by NORTE2020 through Portugal 2020 and FEDER Funds and by National Funds through FCT. M.B.T. received support from the University of Tulsa. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works",
year = "2020",
month = jun,
day = "12",
doi = "10.1126/science.aba0803",
language = "English",
volume = "368",
pages = "1270--1274",
journal = "Science",
issn = "0036-8075",
number = "6496",
}