Variations in the Coding Region of the Agouti Signaling Protein Gene Do Not Explain Agouti/Non-agouti Phenotypes in Macaques

Agouti is a common pigmentation phenotype in mammals including primates. Mutations in the agouti signaling protein gene (ASIP) are known to result in non-agouti black hairs in laboratory mice. It is still unclear whether sequence variation in ASIP is linked with the agouti/non-agouti phenotypes in macaques (Genus Macaca). To address this issue, we have determined and compared nucleotide sequences of protein coding region of ASIP in 18 macaque species and have identified 16 different sequences of the ASIP. Macaca nemestrina, which showed yellow agouti hairs, shared an identical amino acid sequence of ASIP with several non-agouti species. No sequence changes were found in functionally important sites of ASIP in the macaques showing non-agouti dark hair color. These results indicated that the variation in the protein coding region of ASIP did not explain the non-agouti dark coat color in the macaques. Upstream regulatory regions of ASIP and other genes participating in pigmentation system remain to be investigated for the hair color variation in the macaques.