Genetic Research

[ballbreeder]

Just wondering if anyone knows of any official genetic research conducted with ball pythons. It seems that there would be a lot to learn about genetics in general, just by studying an animal that is a hot bed for different genetic strains. Not to mention the information that linked genes, crossing over, and if hemizygous genes (yes, that's hemizygous, not homo or hetero) play a role in ball pythons as they do in most species.

[Blue Apple Herps]

BPs would make a poor genetic model IMO. While it would be neat and interesting to learn about and study, there are already better genetic models (mice, zebra fish, Drosophila, etc) for studying the things you talk about.

[ballbreeder]

BPs would make a poor genetic model IMO. While it would be neat and interesting to learn about and study, there are already better genetic models (mice, zebra fish, Drosophila, etc) for studying the things you talk about.

I agree that they would make a horrible genetic model in the sense that they reproduce very slowly, but I guess I'm thinking of the little bit we know about linked genes in particular. This could be analyzed with past BP lineage data.

Are there many other animals out there that have thousands of morphs?

[ColdBloodedCarnival]

Are there many other animals out there that have thousands of morphs?

Drosophila melanogaster are great for genetic study - one of the reasons being that there are many different mutations. Thousands of scientists use them as model to study eukaryotic biology. Pretty cool stuff actually!!

[NorthernRegius]

Just wondering if anyone knows of any official genetic research conducted with ball pythons. It seems that there would be a lot to learn about genetics in general, just by studying an animal that is a hot bed for different genetic strains. Not to mention the information that linked genes, crossing over, and if hemizygous genes (yes, that's hemizygous, not homo or hetero) play a role in ball pythons as they do in most species.

Genetic mapping is a laborious & expensive process- I doubt it will be done for Python Regius. However it has been done for Humans, interesting stuff.

Here's some info on it:
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresource...ome/home.shtml

[ColdBloodedCarnival]

Genetic mapping is a laborious & expensive process- I doubt it will be done for Python Regius. However it has been done for Humans, interesting stuff.

Python regius' genome will most definitely be mapped - probably within the next few of years.

I have some family members that work in fields of science concerning genetic mapping. At this point 35-45 mammals and several bacteria have been mapped. As far as reptiles go I think only a handful of Anolis species have been done. The really exciting thing is that the speed at which we are able to map genomes is growing exponentially. By the end of this year it is predicted that several hundred more animals will be mapped!! It is getting to the point where new animals are being genetically mapped every day. There are plans to tackle all kinds of reptiles so it is very reasonable to believe that within the next couple years such a common animal like Python regius will be mapped!

Within our lifetime almost all of the animals we know on this planet will be mapped.... Very exciting!!

[Blue Apple Herps]

Are there many other animals out there that have thousands of morphs?

Morphs are just mutations. So to answer your question, yes, there are other animals out there.

And as has been pointed out Drosophila has a plethora of mutations to study, and with them and other systems like mice, there are tools to mutate/knock out/knock down/etc target genes and create mutated animals for study.

[Blue Apple Herps]

Python regius' genome will most definitely be mapped - probably within the next few of years.

I have some family members that work in fields of science concerning genetic mapping. At this point 35-45 mammals and several bacteria have been mapped. As far as reptiles go I think only a handful of Anolis species have been done. The really exciting thing is that the speed at which we are able to map genomes is growing exponentially. By the end of this year it is predicted that several hundred more animals will be mapped!! It is getting to the point where new animals are being genetically mapped every day. There are plans to tackle all kinds of reptiles so it is very reasonable to believe that within the next couple years such a common animal like Python regius will be mapped!

Within our lifetime almost all of the animals we know on this planet will be mapped.... Very exciting!!

I think you're confusing mapping with sequencing. There are hundreds organisms who have had their genomes sequenced. With things like 454 sequencing and other up and coming high throughput sequencing, its possible to sequence a smaller bacterial genome in one read. You're absolutely correct that with it becoming cheaper and cheaper that we probably will start sequencing everything.