Mitochondrial Genetic Diversity and Phylogeography of Mus musculus castaneus in Northern Punjab, Pakistan.

Regions of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India have been proposed as the place of origin of Mus musculus castaneus. But despite the fact that Pakistan encompasses an important part of its range, M. m.

Potential Causative Mutation for Melanism in Rats Identified in the Agouti Signaling Protein Gene (Asip) of the Rattus rattus Species Complex on Okinawa Island, Japan.

The occurrence of black fur, or melanism, in many mammalian species is known to be linked to DNA sequence variation in the agouti signaling protein (Asip) gene, which is a major determinant of eumelanin and pheomelanin pigments in coat color. We investigated 38 agouti (i.e.