A community-science approach identifies genetic variants associated with three color morphs in ball pythons (Python regius)

Abstract

Color morphs in ball pythons (Python regius) provide a unique and largely untapped resource for understanding the genetics of coloration in reptiles. Here we use a community-science approach to investigate the genetics of three color morphs affecting production of the pigment melanin. These morphs—Albino, Lavender Albino, and Ultramel—show a loss of melanin in the skin and eyes, ranging from severe (Albino) to moderate (Lavender Albino) to mild (Ultramel). To identify genetic variants causing each morph, we recruited shed skins of pet ball pythons via social media, extracted DNA from the skins, and searched for putative loss-of-function variants in homologs of genes controlling melanin production in other vertebrates. We report that the Albino morph is associated with missense and non-coding variants in the gene TYR. The Lavender Albino morph is associated with a deletion in the gene OCA2. The Ultramel morph is associated with a missense variant and a putative deletion in the gene TYRP1. Our study is one of the first to identify genetic variants associated with color morphs in ball pythons and shows that pet samples recruited from the community can provide a resource for genetic studies in this species.

Stripes and loss of color in ball pythons (Python regius) are associated with variants affecting endothelin signaling

“…The 17-bp deletion was approximately 16-fold less common in our sample than the 1-bp deletion and might have been plausibly missed by our study, had we focused on a single pedigree. The phenomenon of multiple molecular alleles corresponding to a single breeder-defined allele is not unique to the Yellowbelly series and has been reported for two other color morphs in ball pythons-the Albino color morph and the Ultramel color morph (Brown et al 2022). This phenomenon highlights the utility of community-sourced sampling in ball pythons and shows that the pet population is more diverse than previously recognized.…”

“…An emerging model for understanding coloration and pattern formation in non-avian reptiles is the ball python (Python regius) (Garcia-Elfring et al 2020;Brown et al 2022). Ball pythons are native to west Africa, but have become common as pets in the United States.…”