Atoosa Samani began studying about pigeon genetics at a younger age. She grew up surrounded by pet pigeons in Isfahan, a metropolis in central Iran famed for its pigeon towers. Her favourite was an all-white chicken. However 6- or 7-year-old Samani observed that this explicit pigeon by no means fathered all-white offspring.
She discovered that white coloring is a recessive genetic trait — one which exhibits up solely when a person inherits two damaged copies of a gene (SN: 2/7/22). On this case, the pigeon had two damaged copies of a gene that usually makes pigment to paint feathers, so his feathers had been white. However his offspring inherited a traditional, pigment-producing model of the gene from their moms and had coloured feathers.
That early lesson in pigeon heredity caught with Samani and fueled her need to be taught extra about genetics. When she moved to america to check on the College of Utah in Salt Lake Metropolis, it appeared solely pure to affix Michael Shapiro’s lab to analyze why some pigeons (Columba livia) do backward somersaults (SN: 1/31/13).
These curler pigeons are available two varieties: Flying rollers reminiscent of Birmingham rollers, which fly however do lengthy tumbling runs towards the bottom earlier than resuming flight, and parlor rollers, which may’t fly however as a substitute backflip alongside the bottom. Many Persian poems say the pigeons carry out the acrobatics as a result of the birds are completely happy, however Samani says the reality is darker. “That is positively a motion dysfunction, and it doesn’t have any good features to it,” she says. The dysfunction is progressive, showing quickly after hatching and progressively getting worse till the birds can’t fly.
Samani is homing in on the genes behind the backflips. At the least 5 genes are concerned within the habits, she reported March 7 on the Allied Genetics Convention in Nationwide Harbor, Md.
Her colleagues confirmed backflipping is a recessive trait by breeding racing homer pigeons with parlor rollers; not one of the hybrid offspring rolled. When hybrid birds had been bred collectively, about 4 out of 10 of the offspring did somersaults when pressured to fly, Samani mentioned on the convention.
Samani used two completely different statistical strategies to find genes that make the pigeons tip tailfeather over teakettle. She discovered 5 massive stretches of DNA containing tons of of genes. However not one of the genes in these areas had mutations that might account for the tumbling.
So she checked out gene exercise within the birds’ brains and located almost 2,000 genes that grow to be both roughly lively within the brains of parlor rollers than in two breeds of nonrolling pigeons.
Combining all traces of proof, Samani has narrowed her search to about 300 genes which will result in rolling however can’t but pin the trigger on any explicit genes.
Samani will quickly end her Ph.D. and transfer on, hopefully, to a profession in educating. She’ll miss the pigeons and the psychological train they gave her, she says. “I’ve been occupied with this for 5 years. I’ve a chunk of puzzle right here. I’ve a chunk of puzzle there. How can I put them collectively in order that they make sense? … Do they really match collectively? … That’s the factor I’ll miss essentially the most,” she says. “I like fixing mysteries.”
