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OMIA:002843-9031 : Ptilopody (Feathered shank), generic in Gallus gallus (chicken)

In other species: Asian house martin

Categories: Integument (skin) phene , Limbs / fins / digit / tail phene

Mendelian trait/disorder: unknown

Mode of inheritance: Autosomal

Disease-related: no

Cross-species summary: Avian species have feathers covering most of their body, but in most avian speies distal hindlimbs display scales. However, feathered feet or shanks (also called ptilopody), is a chractersitic of some bird species and has been observed in some breeds of domesticated birds.

Species-specific name: Shank feathering; feather-legged; feathered feet (Somes, 1990)

History: The first published report of this trait was by Hurst (1905). Other early reports were by Davenport (1906, 1909) and Punnett and Bailey (1918). 

Inheritance: Up to three separate loci have been postulated to explain the inheritance of this trait, with the trait being due to dominant alleles at two loci and a recessive allele at the third locus; hence the symbols Pti-1, Pti-2 and pti-3 (Somes, 1990; 1992). Separate OMIA entries have been created for loci for which the causal mutation has been identified: e.g. OMIA:002270-9031 : Ptilopody (Feathered shank), PITX1-related in Gallus gallus (chicken) and OMIA:000839-9031 : Ptilopody (Feathered shank), TBX5-related in Gallus gallus (chicken).

Mapping: Huang et al. (2024) investigated feathered legs in Bamaxiaogu (BXC) chicken: "GWAS results revealed that two SNPs located in the introns of cubilin (CUBN) (SNP1, chr2:19885382T>A) and recombinant Ras suppressor protein 1 (RSU1) genes (SNP2, chr2:20002551G>A), as well as an InDel (InDel1, chr2:19884383TG>T) on CUBN, were all significantly associated with the presence of feathered legs." 

Markers: Huang et al. (2024) "demonstrated that SNP1 [chr2:19885382T>A] effectively differentiated between chickens with feathered legs and those with clean legs (leg without feathers) within the BXC population ... ." 

Cite this entry

Nicholas, F. W., Tammen, I., & Sydney Informatics Hub. (2024). OMIA:002843-9031: Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA) [dataset]. https://omia.org/. https://doi.org/10.25910/2AMR-PV70

References

Note: the references are listed in reverse chronological order (from the most recent year to the earliest year), and alphabetically by first author within a year.

2024 Huang, L., Guo, Q., Sun, J., Wang, Z., Jiang, Y., Chang, G., Bai, H. :
New findings on the genetic basis of feathered legs in chickens:association of CUBN gene mutations with feathered leg phenotype. J Anim Sci 102:skae252, 2024. Pubmed reference: 39187978. DOI: 10.1093/jas/skae252.
2023 Cooper, R.L., Milinkovitch, M.C. :
Transient agonism of the sonic hedgehog pathway triggers a permanent transition of skin appendage fate in the chicken embryo. Sci Adv 9:eadg9619, 2023. Pubmed reference: 37196093. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg9619.
Du, W., Yang, Z., Xiao, C., Liu, Y., Peng, J., Li, J., Li, F., Yang, X. :
Identification of genes involved in regulating the development of feathered feet in chicken embryo. Poult Sci 102:102837, 2023. Pubmed reference: 37390552. DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2023.102837.
2020 Bortoluzzi, C., Megens, H.J., Bosse, M., Derks, M.F.L., Dibbits, B., Laport, K., Weigend, S., Groenen, M.A.M., Crooijmans, R.P.M.A. :
Parallel genetic origin of foot feathering in birds. Mol Biol Evol 37:2465-2476, 2020. Pubmed reference: 32344429. DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaa092.
Li, J., Lee, M., Davis, B.W., Lamichhaney, S., Dorshorst, B.J., Siegel, P.B., Andersson, L. :
Mutations upstream of the TBX5 and PITX1 transcription factor genes are associated with feathered legs in the domestic chicken. Mol Biol Evol 37:2477-2486, 2020. Pubmed reference: 32344431. DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaa093.
2019 Yang, S., Shi, Z., Ou, X., Liu, G. :
Whole-genome resequencing reveals genetic indels of feathered-leg traits in domestic chickens. J Genet 98, 2019. Pubmed reference: 31204699.
2016 Domyan, E.T., Kronenberg, Z., Infante, C.R., Vickrey, A.I., Stringham, S.A., Bruders, R., Guernsey, M.W., Park, S., Payne, J., Beckstead, R.B., Kardon, G., Menke, D.B., Yandell, M., Shapiro, M.D. :
Molecular shifts in limb identity underlie development of feathered feet in two domestic avian species. Elife 5:e12115, 2016. Pubmed reference: 26977633. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.12115.
2015 Sun, Y., Liu, R., Zhao, G., Zheng, M., Sun, Y., Yu, X., Li, P., Wen, J. :
Genome-wide linkage analysis identifies loci for physical appearance traits in chickens. G3 (Bethesda) 5:2037-41, 2015. Pubmed reference: 26248982. DOI: 10.1534/g3.115.020883.
2010 Dorshorst, B., Okimoto, R., Ashwell, C. :
Genomic regions associated with dermal hyperpigmentation, polydactyly and other morphological traits in the Silkie chicken. J Hered 101:339-50, 2010. Pubmed reference: 20064842. DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esp120.
2003 Bartels, T. :
Variations in the morphology, distribution, and arrangement of feathers in domesticated birds. J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol 298:91-108, 2003. Pubmed reference: 12949771. DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.28.
Sawyer, R.H., Knapp, L.W. :
Avian skin development and the evolutionary origin of feathers. J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol 298:57-72, 2003. Pubmed reference: 12949769. DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.26.
1993 Shoffner, R.N., Otis, J.S., Garwood, V.A. :
Association of dominant marker traits and metric traits in chickens. Poult Sci 72:1405-10, 1993. Pubmed reference: 8378215. DOI: 10.3382/ps.0721405.
1992 Somes, R.G. :
Identifying the Ptilopody (Feathered Shank) Loci of the Chicken J Hered 83:230-4, 1992. Pubmed reference: 1624770. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a111200.
1990 Somes, R.G. Jr :
Mutations and major variants of plumage and skin in chickens. In "Poultry Breeding and Genetics" (ed. R.D. Crawford), Elsevier, Amsterdam; Chapter 6 :169-208, 1990.
1971 Goetinck, P.F. :
Genetic tests on the association of brachydactyly and ptilopody in fowl. J Hered 62:28-30, 1971. Pubmed reference: 5094713. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a108113.
1967 Goetinck, P.F. :
Tissue interactions in the development of ptilopody and brachydactyly in the chick embryo. J Exp Zool 165:293-300, 1967. Pubmed reference: 4292956. DOI: 10.1002/jez.1401650213.
1954 Saeki, Y. :
Inheritance of shank feathering (ptilopody) in silky fowl Bulletin of the National Institute of Agricultural Science, Japan, Series G :43-47, 1954.
1949 Warren, DC. :
Linkage relations of autosomal factors in the fowl. Genetics 34:333-50, 1949. Pubmed reference: 17247319. DOI: 10.1093/genetics/34.3.333.
1938 Fisher, R.A. :
Dominance in poultry - Feathered feet, rose comb, internal pigment and pile. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B: Biological Sciences 125:25-48, 1938.
1933 Warren, D.C. :
Nine independently inherited autosomal factors in the domestic fowl. Genetics 18:68-81, 1933. Pubmed reference: 17246678. DOI: 10.1093/genetics/18.1.68.
1927 Dunn, L.C., Jull, M.A. :
On the inheritance of some characters of the Silky fowl Journal of Genetics 19:27-63, 1927.
1926 Serebrovsky, A.S. :
The genetics of the domestic fowl. II. The genetics of leg feathering. Memoirs of the Anikowo Genetical Station, 1926. [Abstracted by L. C. Dunn from the translation of B. F. Glessing] Journal of Heredity 20:111-118, 1926.
1918 Punnett, R.C., Bailey, P.G. :
Genetic studies in poultry. I. Inheritance of leg feathering Journal of Genetics 7:203-213, 1918.
1909 Davenport, C.B. :
Inheritance of characteristics in the domestic fowl Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington. Publication 121 :1-100, 1909.
1906 Davenport, C.B. :
"Inheritance in poultry". Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington. Publication 52. :1-136, 1906. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.29926.
1905 Hurst, C.C. :
Experiments with poultry. Reports to the Evolution Committee of the Royal Society 2:131-154, 1905.

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  • Created by Imke Tammen2 on 28 Aug 2024
  • Changed by Imke Tammen2 on 28 Aug 2024