Genetic basis of colour variation

Determining the mechanistic and genetic basis of animal coloration is essential to understand the costs and constraints on colour production, and the evolution and maintenance of phenotypic variation. However, genes underlying structural colour and widespread pigment classes apart from melanin remain largely uncharacterised, in part due to restricted taxonomic focus. We sequenced the transcriptomes of skin and non-skin tissue samples and employed RNA-seq gene expression analyses to characterise the pigments and genes associated with skin colour in the polymorphic lizard, Ctenophorus decresii.