Molecular and Evolutionary History of Melanism in North American Gray Wolves
Open accessAbstract
Morphological diversity within closely related species is an essential aspect of evolution and adaptation. Mutations in the Melanocortin 1 receptor ( Mc1r ) gene contribute to pigmentary diversity in natural populations of fish, birds, and many mammals. However, melanism in the gray wolf, Canis lupus , is caused by a different melanocortin pathway component, the K locus, that encodes a beta-defensin protein that acts as an alternative ligand for Mc1r. We show that the melanistic K locus mutation in North American wolves derives from past hybridization with domestic dogs, has risen to high frequency in forested habitats, and exhibits a molecular signature of positive selection. The same mutation also causes melanism in the coyote, Canis latrans , and in Italian gray wolves, and hence our results demonstrate how traits selected in domesticated species can influence the morphological diversity of their wild relatives.
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Increased hybridization of coyotes on the East coast with domestic dogs and wolves may promote variation in pelage coloration.
“This may be due to the increased hybridization of coyotes on the East coast with domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and wolves (Canis lupus) promoting a variation in pelage coloration (Gipson, 1976;Anderson et al., 2009;Mowry & Edge, 2014;Caudill & Caudill, 2015;Hody & Kays, 2018).”
From Of Rarity and Symbolism: Understanding Human Perceptions of Charismatic Color Morphs (2024) · cites this paper as Anderson et al., 2009
The passages labeled Abstract (page unavailable) associate a coat-color mutation with black coyotes and suggest that it spread among dogs, wolves, and coyotes through hybridization. They do not establish increased hybridization among East Coast coyotes or link such an increase to variation in their pelage coloration. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Cites
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Fan, Z., Silva, P., Gronau, I., Wang, S., Armero, A. S., Schweizer, R. M., Ramirez, O., Pollinger, J., Galaverni, M., Ortega Del-Vecchyo, D., et al. (2016) · Genome Research · doi:10.1101/gr.197517.115 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
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vonHoldt, B. M., DeCandia, A. L., Heppenheimer, E., Janowitz‐Koch, I., Shi, R., Zhou, H., German, C. A., Brzeski, K. E., Cassidy, K. A., Stahler, D. R., et al. (2020) · Molecular Ecology · doi:10.1111/mec.15349 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
“Further, a 3-bp mutation in the canine beta-defensin 103 (CBD103) gene is responsible for melanism and segregates as a Mendelian trait in gray wolves (Anderson et al., 2009).”
BackgroundOf Rarity and Symbolism: Understanding Human Perceptions of Charismatic Color Morphs
Williams, T. D., Kreling, S. E. S., Stanton, L. A., Wilkinson, C. E., Estien, C. O., Schell, C. J., & Carlen, E. J. (2024) · Human Ecology · doi:10.1007/s10745-024-00492-7 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“This may be due to the increased hybridization of coyotes on the East coast with domestic dogs ( Canis familiaris ) and wolves ( Canis lupus ) promoting a variation in pelage coloration (Gipson, 1976; Anderson et al., 2009; Mowry & Edge, 2014; Caudill & Caudill, 2015; Hody & Kays, 2018).”
Mowry, C. B., Wilson, L. A., & vonHoldt, B. M. (2021) · Diversity · doi:10.3390/d13080372 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“We sequenced Carmine’s CBD103 gene to determine if his melanistic phenotype was due to the same 3bp deletion as previously reported to confer melanisms in gray wolves and some domestic dog breeds [13,51] and to determine its genotypic state.”
BackgroundMethodSelf-citation
- Authors
- Anderson, T. M., vonHoldt, B. M., Candille, S. I., Musiani, M., Greco, C., Stahler, D. R., Smith, D. W., Padhukasahasram, B., Randi, E., Leonard, J. A., Bustamante, C. D., Ostrander, E. A., Tang, H., Wayne, R. K., & Barsh, G. S.
- Affiliations
- National Park Service (US)
- Corresponding author
- Barsh, Gregory S.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2009-03-06
- Volume
- 323
- Issue
- 5919
- Pages
- 1339-1343
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- PMC
- PMC2903542
- OpenAlex
- W2054065543
- Cited by
- 416
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 36
- FWCI
- 16.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Human Genome Research Institute (T32HG002536)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM068882)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (P01DK068384)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › melanin and skin pigmentation
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Keywords
- melanism, gray wolf, wolf, K locus, beta-defensins, MC1R, positive selection, morphological diversity, coyote, domestication
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Dogs, Biological Evolution, Hair Color, Haplotypes, Melanins, Molecular Sequence Data, Mutation, Phenotype, Phylogeny, Pigmentation, Selection, Genetic, Linkage Disequilibrium, Sequence Deletion, Ecosystem, Wolves, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, beta-Defensins, Receptor, Melanocortin, Type 1, Coyotes, Gene Flow, Agouti Signaling Protein
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