The Genetics of Adaptive Coat Color in Gophers: Coding Variation at Mc1r Is Not Responsible for Dorsal Color Differences

Abstract

The genetics of adaptation is a key problem in evolutionary biology. Pocket gophers of the species Thomomys bottae provide one of the most striking examples of coat color variation in mammals. Dorsal pelage color is strongly correlated with soil color across the range of the species, presumably reflecting the selective pressure exerted by predation. To investigate the genetic basis of coat color variation in T. bottae, we cloned and sequenced the melanocortin-1 receptor locus (Mc1r), a candidate pigmentation gene, in 5 dark and 5 light populations of the species. Our results show that, in contrast to many other species of mammals and other vertebrates, coding variation at Mc1r is not the main determinant of coat color variation in T. bottae. These results demonstrate that similar phenotypic variation may have a different genetic basis among different mammalian species.