It seems like a riddle that Rudyard Kipling faced it in his Just Hundred Stories, but it turns out that the origin of rabbit hop is not in the legends but the cause of heredity.
Researchers say that by studying the unusual species that walk on the front paws of rabbits, they have traced the key genes that animals need to adopt the typical cow. For rabbits, as well as animals like rabbits and kangaroos, it has the ability to hop.
“If you [were to] Introduce a similar change [seen in these unusual rabbits] In humans, you don’t get rid of hoping but you can change our outing in some other way, ’said Prof. Dr. A.S.
Los Nderson and colleagues, writing in the journal Plus Genetics, described how they discovered the domestic rabbit suite Tour d’Alfort by focusing on the breed. Instead of hopping, these animals adopt a “handstand” pose and move forward on their front paws. Gender is also known for eye problems, including blindness and cataracts.
Both traits were known from breeding experiments caused by mutations in the same gene. However, it was unknown at this time what he would do after leaving the post.
To gain an in-depth understanding, Anderson and his colleagues bred Sutter d’Alfort rabbits with New Zealand white rabbits – a breed or hops – confirming previous theories that two copies of a mutated gene are required for rabbits to lose their bounce.
The researchers then conducted a genetic analysis of the rabbits, which showed a mutation in a gene called RORB, showing Hope’s inability. Suiter d’Alfort rabbits have been found to have two copies of this mutation. However, mutations have not been found in other wild and domestic species of rabbits, or in other mammals, including humans.
“DNA sequences that are important for function are highly preserved in species.”
“Crucially, the RORB gene gives birth to a protein that turns other genes on and off,” Anderson said. If this gene does not function properly, he added, the production of other proteins in the spinal cord cannot be properly regulated, affecting the way the spinal organs coordinate messages between the brain and the muscles.
Indeed, further work by the team has revealed that there is no detectable RORB protein in the spinal cord of rabbits with two copies of the RORB mutation.
The team says the relationship of their findings with previous work shows that the mice that mutated their RORB genes not only had eye problems but also had an unusual walk like a duck’s waist.
However, Andersen said the RORB gene is not the only gene for GATE. For example, the ability to bark for a horse, found in some breeds such as the Icelandic pony, is linked to a mutation in a gene formerly known as DMRT3.
“Manipulation is a complex trait,” said Arne Ludwig, a professor of animal genetics at the Albrecht Daniel Ther-Institute at Herbold University and the Leibniz Institute for Zoology and Wildlife Research in Berlin.
“Some genes are involved and this study shows that RORB is one of them,” he said.
But, he added, the breeding of Sutter d’Alfort rabbits is worrisome, given their host’s disorders. “Probably sausage tour rabbits will have no chance of surviving in nature,” he said.
