Quote:
Originally Posted by
pedda munnangi 
Thanks my friend.My question now is What happened to the India blue gene(B) in this purple chick.. Is it still there in its blood or not.? In othewords this purple female is not only split for blackshoulder but also questionably split to Indiablue ?.
There is no single "India Blue" gene. "India Blue" is the "normal" version of the species, and this species has many, many genes. When there is a mutation in a gene, there now exists more than one version -- the "normal" version (called "India Blue") and whatever the mutated gene might be. In your birds' case, there is a mutation in one gene that causes the Black Shoulder phenotype. The "normal" version of that gene is the one that leaves the regular barred pattern on males' wings, and full pigmentation on hens. There is also a mutation in another gene that causes the Purple phenotype. The "normal" version of that gene is the one that leaves the regular blue color, and the mutated version changes that color to purple. With respect to both of these genes, we refer to the "normal" version as being "India Blue."
Because the mutated gene that causes Purple lies on the Z chromosome, it is what we call "sex-linked." Female birds have only one Z chromosome, while males have two. When a recessive mutation occurs, the phenotype which is produced from it requires that there exist no "normal" version on the other chromosome to "interfere." With sex-linked recessive genes, females need only one copy of the gene, because there is no other Z chromosome. The "normal" or "India Blue" version of the Purple gene does not exist on a Purple hen -- she has only one Z chromosome, and the version of that one gene is Purple. But if the only mutation she shows is Purple, then she still has "India Blue" (i.e. "normal") versions of her other genes -- she is not Black Shoulder, she is not Pied, she is not White, she is not White-Eyed, etc. However, with respect to the Purple gene, she does not have the "normal" or "India Blue" version of that gene.
If I'm being too verbose, please let me know. I'll try to clarify further if I'm not being understood. It's been a long night at work.
