The science behind nature’s rainbow: CIBIO-BIOPOLIS research on the cover of PNAS
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Research led by CIBIO-BIOPOLIS reveals how small genetic changes shape the microscopic structures responsible for iridescent colours in bird feathers. Published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the study was selected for the journal’s cover.
Research led by CIBIO-BIOPOLIS reveals how small genetic changes shape the microscopic structures responsible for iridescent colours in bird feathers. Published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the study was selected for the journal’s cover.
An international team led by CIBIO-BIOPOLIS, at the University of Porto, has uncovered how genes involved in melanin production help determine the striking iridescent colours of bird feathers. The findings shed new light on how genetic changes can generate the extraordinary diversity of colours seen in nature.
By analysing eight colour varieties of the Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) and gene activity in two wild bird species, the researchers identified eight genes associated with changes in iridescence. These genes influence the shape, composition and organisation of melanosomes - tiny structures containing melanin that, when highly organized, affect how light interacts with feathers, producing effects ranging from metallic blue-green to violet reflections.
The study shows how small changes in DNA can reshape these microscopic structures, altering feather colours or even eliminating iridescence. As first author Soraia Barbosa, a CIBIO-BIOPOLIS researcher, explains, melanin does much more than produce familiar dark or reddish tones: changes in how it is produced and organised can shift hue and saturation of iridescent colors, but also generate or even eliminate iridescence completely, resulting in strikingly different visual effects than those we are used to see in a blue peafowl.
The research, "Modulation of Avian Iridescence via Melanogenesis”, advances our understanding of the links between genetics, biological development and the evolution of colour in birds.