文章基本信息

标题：Challenging the concept that eumelanin is the polymorphic brown banded pigment in Cepaea nemoralis
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作者：Susanne Affenzeller ; Klaus Wolkenstein ; Holm Frauendorf 等
期刊名称：Scientific Reports
电子版ISSN：2045-2322
出版年度：2020
卷号：10
期号：1
页码：1-7
DOI：10.1038/s41598-020-59185-y
出版社：Springer Nature
摘要：The common grove snail Cepaea nemoralis displays a stable pigmentation polymorphism in its shell that has held the attention of scientists for decades. While the details of the molecular mechanisms that generate and maintain this diversity remain elusive, it has long been employed as a model system to address questions related to ecology, population genetics and evolution. In order to contribute to the ongoing efforts to identify the genes that generate this polymorphism we have tested the long-standing assumption that melanin is the pigment that comprises the dark-brown bands. Surprisingly, using a newly established analytical chemical method, we find no evidence that eumelanin is differentially distributed within the shells of C. nemoralis. Furthermore, genes known to be responsible for melanin deposition in other metazoans are not differentially expressed within the shell-forming mantle tissue of C. nemoralis. These results have implications for the continuing search for the supergene that generates the various pigmentation morphotypes.