Pigeon Performance Gene DRD4-2 MnLI

Dopamine is a so-called neurotransmitter. Many important physiological functions are mediated by dopamine and its binding on the five different receptors. The dopamine receptor type 4 (DRD4) gene is scientifically proven to influence the racing performance of pigeons, making it a useful performance marker.

There are two point mutations in the gene: DRD4-Bst4Cl/DRD4-1/DRD4a and DRD4-MnlI/DRD4-2/DRD4b. Here we test for the second mutation, which seem to impact character and perseverance, leading to a better performance on long distances (>600km) in heterozygotes. The first mutation is offered as a separate test.