What's the mutation of white sheep gene?
4hw.org: genes have great heritability, not only for human beings, but also for animals. Recently, a Japanese zoo has left a pure black sample of white sheep, which is shocking. What's the matter with genes? How can white sheep leave black lambs? Please see the details below!
On June 3, 2017 local time, a rare black coryday lamb in Chiba zoo, Japan. Coryday is a breed with white coat, but due to gene mutation, it has this rare black lamb.
It is reported that the black lamb was born on May 21, and it is only 42 cm tall.
Coryday sheep generally have white hair, and the chance of giving birth to black lambs is very rare, which is caused by gene mutation.
What about gene mutation?
Gene mutation refers to the sudden and heritable variation of genomic DNA molecules. At the molecular level, gene mutation refers to the change of base pair composition or sequence in gene structure. Although the gene is very stable and can accurately replicate itself during cell division, this stability is relative. Under certain conditions, a gene can suddenly change from its original form of existence to another new form of existence, that is, a new gene suddenly appears at a site, replacing the original gene, which is called a mutant gene. Therefore, new traits that our ancestors never had appeared suddenly in the performance of our offspring. Gene mutation usually occurs in the period of DNA replication, i.e. cell division interval, including mitosis interval and meiosis interval; at the same time, gene mutation is related to DNA replication, DNA damage repair, canceration and aging. Gene mutation is also one of the important factors in biological evolution.