A new study confirmed that a mutation in the SLC45A2 is responsible for the sex-linked ino rose-ringed parakeet [Psittacula krameri]. The study also revealed that mutations in SLC45A2 gene affect melanin production in other members of Psittaculidae family such as alexandrine [Psittacula eupatria], and plum-headed parakeets [Psittacula cyanocephala]. Additionally, they demonstrate that the mutations associated with the sex -linked ino phenotype, localized within the transmembrane domains of the SLC45A2 protein, affect the protein localization pattern [1].
A 2007 study had already confirmed this in quails [2], which led us to suspect that this would also be the case in parakeets. This study confirms it.
[1]
S. Ghosh Roy e.a., ‘Mutation in SLC45A2 leads to loss of melanin in parrot feathers’, bioRxiv, pp. 2023-08, 2023.
[2]
U. Gunnarsson e.a., ‘Mutations in SLC45A2 Cause Plumage Color Variation in Chicken and Japanese Quail’, Genetics, vol. 175, nr. 2, pp. 867-877, feb. 2007,
