Peafowl Genetics 303 - Making Polygenic Morphs
Now that you know basic genetics and how this relates to peafowl, you can create polygenic mutations from scratch! You can create the established combinations, like platinum or taupe, but you can actually combine any two genes using this method, and create your very own new color!
I will caution you that these kinds of multi-generation experiments can take years, and we DO NOT know which autosomal genes are on the same chromosomes. There's a chance they are on the same chromosome but not alleles, there's a chance they are on the same chromosome but are alleles, there's a chance that either of those are true (or neither of those are true) but one mutation is dominant over the other and so only one mutation will express in the phenotype, and there's a chance that they will co-express and you can coin a new phenotype mutation! So, you're taking a chance, but if it works out, it will be very cool.
I will caution you that these kinds of multi-generation experiments can take years, and we DO NOT know which autosomal genes are on the same chromosomes. There's a chance they are on the same chromosome but not alleles, there's a chance they are on the same chromosome but are alleles, there's a chance that either of those are true (or neither of those are true) but one mutation is dominant over the other and so only one mutation will express in the phenotype, and there's a chance that they will co-express and you can coin a new phenotype mutation! So, you're taking a chance, but if it works out, it will be very cool.
Producing autosomal multi-gene phenotypes from their components
If you would like to try to produce an autosomal-only, multi-gene phenotype from scratch, you will need two different autosomal colors. Which parent is which color does not matter, since none of the autosomal colors depend on sex.
- Bear in mind that we don't know which (if any) genes are alleles, which means that this may not work for combining some colors. You may discover that one mutation is dominant in the phenotype, and the other doesn't show at all, and that will be impossible to differentiate from bad luck getting birds that are only homozygous for one color or the other.
This gives us wild type het for bronze and het for opal. We then breed these offspring together!
As you can se, this gives us a range of genotypes, but only 4 phenotypes- blue, bronze, opal, and platinum. However, even though there are only 4 phenotypes, only 1/16 of them (6.25%) will be platinum. However! That means that 1/16 babies will be platinum! Congrats, you have created a multi-gene phenotype!
This process should be able to be repeated with any autosomal colors that aren't alleles to one another, and where one phenotype is not dominant over the other. Again, we don't know if any of the other autosomal colors are alleles or dominant/recessive to one another, we only know about their relationship to the wild type.
This process should be able to be repeated with any autosomal colors that aren't alleles to one another, and where one phenotype is not dominant over the other. Again, we don't know if any of the other autosomal colors are alleles or dominant/recessive to one another, we only know about their relationship to the wild type.
Producing Autosomal + Sex-linked, multi-gene phenotypes from their components
Now, we DO know that autosomal and sex linked genes are not on the same chromosomes as each other. By definition, autosomal genes are on the autosomal chromosomes, and sex-linked genes are ONLY on the sex chromosomes. So, if you want a better chance at a new mutation, or an easier time producing it, this combo is the easier way to go.
In order to create most multi-gene sex-linked phenotype peafowl, you will want to start with a cock of the sex-linked color, and a hen of the autosomal color. You can start with a hen of the sex-linked color and a cock of the autosomal color, but it will take longer and be more of a pain in the butt, as only the males in first generation will be het for the sex linked color, while the hens have no sex link.
We will use taupe, so we need a purple cock bred to an opal hen, like so:
In order to create most multi-gene sex-linked phenotype peafowl, you will want to start with a cock of the sex-linked color, and a hen of the autosomal color. You can start with a hen of the sex-linked color and a cock of the autosomal color, but it will take longer and be more of a pain in the butt, as only the males in first generation will be het for the sex linked color, while the hens have no sex link.
We will use taupe, so we need a purple cock bred to an opal hen, like so:
This gives us purple hens and het purple cocks, and all offspring are het opal. When these are bred together, some of the offspring will be taupe.
You'll notice the spread of offspring doesn't look the same as the autosomal table. You will get twice as many multi-gene phenotypes as an autosomal (1/8 compared to 1/16). Remember that this table splits males and females from each other, because the results will be slightly different for each sex.
Production of Multi-Gene Sex-linked Phenotypes
Even though peach is technically a "multi-gene sex-linked only" color, it's not one that you can create from scratch on purpose. This is because all of the sex-linked colors are on the sex linked chromosomes. This "kind of" makes them alleles, even though any given gene itself may not be in the same position as any other gene.
The only sex-linked genes we KNOW are alleles are US purple and EU violet. When these birds are paired, we don't get wild types, we get an in-between color. This is simply accomplished by breeding EU to EV, and the in-between color is ONLY expressed in the males, as the hens will be either EV or purple, depending on which male you used. The hens only have one sex chromosome so they just get whatever gene matches their father's color.
The only sex-linked genes we KNOW are alleles are US purple and EU violet. When these birds are paired, we don't get wild types, we get an in-between color. This is simply accomplished by breeding EU to EV, and the in-between color is ONLY expressed in the males, as the hens will be either EV or purple, depending on which male you used. The hens only have one sex chromosome so they just get whatever gene matches their father's color.