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The Original All Roller Talk Discussion Board Archive >
The "Dimmer Switch" and Genetic Traits
The "Dimmer Switch" and Genetic Traits
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Tony Chavarria
Site Publisher
1412 posts
Jun 28, 2007
9:02 AM
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This previous post by Cliff Ball was an interesting one that I felt deserved its own thread:
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"Stan, Let me try to add a little science to what Scott is saying from experience. In livestock breeding, we once assumed that every difference between one bird and another was attributable to a gene which one bird had and the other lacked.
Geneticists have found lots of DNA , not actual genes, but "regulatory DNA" that expands or limits the degree to which genes are expressed, the same genes, being expressed differently; sort of like a dimmer light switch regulates the brightness of identical light bulbs according to the amount of electricity permitted to reach the bulb.
So this accounts for enormous variability of gene expression.
Scott's recommendation to include only "refined" or "well-bred" birds in our breeding programs may, in reality, be referring to limiting ourselves to birds with less diversity or lesser amounts of the regulatory DNA available, as well as more consistency in the genetic package to begin with. Clear as mud? LOL!
YITS,
Cliff"
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FLY ON! Tony Chavarria
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Tony Chavarria
Site Publisher
1413 posts
Jun 28, 2007
9:04 AM
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Hey Cliff, so what you seem to be saying is that each bird from a particular family has ALL the genes of the family (good or bad ones), only that the "dimmer switch" of a trait is what regulates its expression?
This would seem to make sense to me and probably others as it could account for why one roller may not roll well at all but yet its offspring can!
What I like best about this idea is that it still fits with the concept of breeding "best to best" as it does explain (at least to me) why certain desired family traits can seem to skip a bird but show up in its offspring.
Good post, a very interesting and original insight? Thanks Cliff.
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FLY ON! Tony Chavarria
Check Out Our Pigeon Supply Store
Last Edited by on Jun 28, 2007 9:14 AM
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Missouri-Flyer
665 posts
Jun 28, 2007
1:47 PM
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not just it's offspring, but never do both nestmates turn out the EXACT way, exact spin, exact style, etc.. You may get 4 great spinners, but the next one from the same parents might be a P.O.S...
We will never get away from breeding culls, but with all knowledge gained it makes it easier to fly good birds.
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Jerry
Home of "Whispering Wings Loft"
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Ballrollers
797 posts
Jun 30, 2007
10:13 PM
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Thanks,Tony. It sounds like you've got the idea. What we don't know is what OTHER factors, besides genetics, have an effect on those "dimmer switches". Certainly nutrition would seem to, especially at certain critical stages of development. Conditioning may also, as well as, pollutants and/or toxins. Ever wonder why a good bird goes stiff after a couple years...or why a stiff bird suddenly comes into spin in his second or third or even fourth year? I'd bet on some environmental factor having an impact on these regulatory enzymes for such birds. I have studied it in quite some detail for a Master's Thesis, as it (nutrition) impacts the genetic expression of bone structure, dental development and malocclusion over generations of primitive cultures whose diets became "modernized". It's quite interesting.
Cliff
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2007 10:18 PM
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