Spiridonova L.N., Surmach S.G.
В журнале Russian Journal of Genetics
Год: 2025 Том: 61 Номер: 8 Страницы: 953–965
Intragenomic polymorphism of the OCA2 gene fragment (approximately 4800 bp) encoding the transmembrane P-protein associated with the bird feather color was studied for the first time in seven Far Eastern owl species, namely, the Eurasian eagle-owl Bubo bubo, the Blakiston’s fish-owl Bubo (Ketupa) blakistoni, the snowy owl Bubo (Nyctea) scandiacus, the long-eared owl Asio otus, the Ural owl Strix uralensis, the oriental scops owl Otus sunia, and the Japanese scops owl Otus semitorques. The intragenomic variability of OCA2 within this heterogeneous group of Strigiformes varied from 0.005 in B. bubo to 0.014 in O. sunia, exceeding the interspecific values for this gene in the genera Falco and Cygnus (0.000–0.006). Genetic distances between genera in the family Strigidae varied widely (0.022–0.048) but were comparable to those observed in the family Accipitridae (0.015–0.040). For the first time, pseudogenization of the OCA2 gene was revealed in some studied species, based on the comparison of exonic regions of the coding gene and different variants of its copies. In O. semitorques, two pseudogene variants were identified; three pseudogene variants were identified in B. (N.) scandiacus, and eight variants, in B. bubo. The OCA2 pseudogenes were characterized by the high level of intragenomic polymorphism caused by many single mutations, insertions, and deletions of different lengths. For some species pairs controversially assigned to the same genus, deep differentiation, which corresponded to the intergeneric level of genetic distances for the OCA2 gene in other orders was revealed, adding arguments in favor of their generic independence: O. sunia–O. semitorques (0.031); B. bubo–B. (K.) blakistoni (0.024); and B. (K.) blakistoni–B. (N.) scandiacus (0.022). Reconstruction of the phylogenetic relationships of Strigiformes and other studied taxa based on the OCA2 gene is generally consistent with the reconstructions based on other molecular markers.
