Association of TYR Gene Polymorphisms with Coat Colors in Chinese Raccoon Dog

Abstract

Background The TYR gene has been documented to exhibit an association with the dominant white coat color in certain mammalian species. To understand the genotypic profile underlying coat color in Chinese wild-type raccoon dogs and white mutant raccoon dogs, TYR gene was amplified and variations in them were analyzed by DNA sequencing. Results In this study, Sequence analysis revealed that 11 single nucleotide polymorphisms SNPs were detected, and four of them were missense mutations (c.329A > G、c.479A > G、c.1497G > C、c.1523A > C) resulting in amino acid mutations (Cln110Arg, Asn160Ser, Cys1497Phe, His1523Pro). These four SNPs showed a low-to-moderate PIC value ranging from 0 to 0.351. The genotype distribution of all mutations in two raccoon populations of different coat color not reached significant level (p>0.05). Conclusion Overall, the results of this study suggest that TYR gene may lead to a mutation in raccoon dogs fur color to white.