UK (Commonwealth Union) – Zoonotic diseases where an animal disease from one species can cross over into another species, such as the COVID-19 virus has been of more interest since the pandemic. Hence genomic research on animal diseases has provided valuable data in helping researchers from various disciplines better understand its nature.
A new study conducted by the University of Oxford, Yellowstone National Park and Penn State, may have an answer for the reason wolves change color across North America.
Moving from Arctic Canada and heading south down the Rocky Mountains into the US closer to Mexico, the further south travelers go, more black wolves will be noticed. Till now, the reason has been a mystery for scientists.
“In most parts of the world black wolves are absent or very rare, yet in North America they are common in some areas and absent in others. Scientists have long wondered why. We now have an explanation based on wolf surveys across North America, and modelling motivated by extraordinary data collected by co-authors who work in Yellowstone,” said Professor Tim Coulson of the Department of Biology, for the University of Oxford who led the study.
Coat color in wolves is determined by a gene known as CPD103. The ancestral version of CPD103 codes for the grey colored coat however a genetic mutation that arose in dogs and then crossed into wolves’ codes for the black coat color. Wolves inherit 2 copies of CPD103, 1 from each parent, but only need to inherit 1 copy of the black variant which leads to a black coat.
The scientists have suggested this gene also has a role in defending against respiratory diseases like canine distemper virus (CDV). As the DNA region with the gene also encodes for a protein playing a role in protecting against infections in the lungs of mammals, indicating that having a black coat is linked with the wolves’ survival of an infection with CDV.
