The pigments of melanophores are known to be stored in organelles known as LROs or lysosome-related organelles. Mammals only have melanophores, while reptiles and fish carry all three types of chromatophore, meaning they can display a very wide variety of colors and color patterns. There are three types of chromatophores: melanophores, which are responsible for the black or brown color xanthophores, for red and yellow and iridophores, with crystals that reflect multiple colors.
#Classic snake skin skin
The chromatophores are the cells that determine skin color, thanks to the presence of pigments or crystals that reflect light. The UNIGE study marks a significant step forward in our understanding of the origin of colors and patterns in the skin of vertebrates. This single mutation is enough to affect every skin color, demonstrating that both the reflective crystals and pigments are stored in lysosome-related vesicles. The research, published in the journal PNAS, demonstrates that the dull color of the lavender variant of corn snake is caused by the mutation of a gene involved in forming lysosomes, the "garbage disposal" vesicles of cells. A team of specialists in genetic determinism and color evolution in reptiles from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) is studying the wide variety of colors sported by different individuals within the corn snake species.
The skin color of vertebrates depends on chromatophores-cells found in the superficial layers of the epidermis. The species can undergo mutations that lead to variations in skin colour, with the lavender corn snake being pink with grey spots. The skin of corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus) has an orange base, decorated with red dorsal and lateral spots circled in black.
0 kommentar(er)
