What deleterious mutations affect ornamental traits?
Current
PhD
How harmful are mutations in specific biological pathways?
How harmful are mutations in specific biological pathways?
In my second PhD chapter, we found that mutation load affects behavioural traits (more specifically, lek attendance) more than ornamental traits in black grouse. So what mutations affect the expression of ornamental traits, if any at all?
In this project, we identify relevant biological pathways contributing to sexual traits like blue chroma, red eye comb size, lyre size and test whether deleterious mutations in these pathways affect the expression of these traits.