New study reveals how some chickens got striped feathers
![Coq coucou de Rennes is one example of striped feather characteristic as a result of of sex-linked barring. Photo: Édouard Hue](https://www.scilifelab.se/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/coq_coucou_de_rennes_photo_edouard_hue-scaled.jpg)
Birds show an amazing diversity in plumage color and patterning. But what are the genetic mechanisms creating such patterns? In a new study published in PLOS Genetics, led by Leif Andersson, Uppsala University/SciLifeLab, Swedish and French researchers report that two independent mutations are required to explain the development of the sex-linked barring pattern in chicken. Both mutations affect the function of CDKN2A, a tumor suppressor gene associated with melanoma in humans.