The Genetic 'Switch" Behind Parrot Color Diversity

Scientists from the University of Hong Kong, alongside an international team, discovered a genetic "switch" that controls the diversity of vibrant colors in parents. The study, uploaded in the journal Science, showed that parrots use unique pigments called psittacofulvis to create their known distinctive colors of yellow, red, and greens. Other birds do not possess these psittacofulvin pigments. One protein, which is a type of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), is in charge of controlling these psittacofulvin pigments. The ALDH protein functions as a color dial, actively converting red psittacofulvins to yellow ones when cells produce them in high quantities. The mechanism of this process is demonstrated in multiple parrot species like the dusky lory, rosy-faced lovebirds, and budgerigars. The researchers also genetically engineered yeast to produce parrot colors, confirming that the found gene, ALDH3A2, is sufficient to explain how parrots control their feather coloration. This discovery sheds light on how complex traits can evolve through simple molecular innovations. I find this article very interesting as such simple molecular innovations in parrots allow them to allow biological switches to maintain the parrot's distinctive colors. Suppose animals such as parrots can create their biological dial to adjust the pigmentation of their feathers. Could humans have the same mechanism as a dial that helps control pigmentation in our hair or other body parts? With further research into this, I believe we could take another step forward in understanding biological mechanisms https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/11/241115125034.htm https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp7710

Parrots' keep talking their ways into longer lives

       

         Morgan Wirthlin, a geneticist at the University of Carnegie Mellon, along with her colleagues from other institutes are the first to preform a comparative study on parrot genomes. The study includes over 20 different species of aves while focusing on four species of parrots and dives into their discovery of a section of genes that are linked with the bird's incredible life and cognitive longevity. As you know from this course, the longevity of ones life is correlated to the life of the chromosome's telomeres. As a cell replicates an overhang occurs at the end of the chromosome (telomere) therefore causing the chromosome to shorten by approximately 100bps everytime it replicates. Telomerase is an enzyme that is responsible for the repair of the telomeres so that this reduction in base pairs is fixed. However telomerase is barely active in somatic cells therefore they tend to be reduced which then leads to aging.

          Wirthlin mentions that parrots are known to live up to 90 years in captivity which is relative to hundreds of years for a human life span! Through our knowledge of how lifespan is limited one can only infer that parrots have increased levels of telomere repair/protection whether its through telomerase or another enzyme/process. Through the study a pivotal discovery was made. In the 344 genes that were looked at from high longevity birds, 6% have been previously noted to improve longevity of model organisms in a controlled experiment. However the other 94% of those genes have never been connected to improve the lifespan of any other organism from the scientific community's knowledge. TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase) is part of the whole telomerase compound that protects against cell cenescence, which is the cell ceasing to divide. The study showed that TERT had two positive sites in which this was present in high longevity birds compared to zero in humans. This change in TERT activity could be a plausible explanation in the enhancement of the birds lifespan. One drawback was that TERT could have risks of causing increased cell proliferation and tumor formation therefore doing more harm than good. But the parrots also were found to have genes BUB1B, BUB3, KIF4A, KIF1BP, and CCNE1 which link with controlling cell proliferation and tumor formation. The combination of their telomerase activity and cell-cycle regulation could be revolutionary for our knowledge in preventing or slowing down the rate of cancer in mammalian species. This could also be the first steps in identifying what could slow down the destruction of telomeres or even prevent it all together. 

LINKS:
News report from Science Daily 
Journal article from Current Biology