Thanet Sophonnithiprasert¹, Ratchanok Kumsiri², Panan Kanchanaphum^1*

¹Biochemistry Unit, Faculty of Science, Rangsit University, Pathumthani, Thailand

²Pathobiology Unit, Faculty of Science, Rangsit University, Pathumthani, Thailand

 

*Corresponding author’s email: panan.k@rsu.ac.th

Received: 25 October 2025 / Revised: 14 January 2026 / Accepted: 19 January 2026 / Published Online: 30 January 2026

 

Abstract

 

The ball python, or Python regius, is a popular exotic pet known for its beautiful colors and patterns, particularly in the piebald morph. Piebald ball pythons have skin with white patches on a pattern with a brown and black background. The piebald trait results from a recessive mutation in the TFEC gene. There are three variations of piebald: low white, medium white, and high white. This study uses quantitative PCR (qPCR) to determine the levels of TFEC gene expression across these three piebald variants. In the four low white piebald samples analyzed, the reduction of TFEC gene expression ranged from 1.31 to 4.42-fold, compared to the wild type, displaying the lowest reduction fold of TFEC gene expression. This phenomenon shows the pattern on almost all the skin of the ball python. While in medium white, the reduction in TFEC gene expression ranges from 5.14 to 7.99-fold, indicating the equal distribution of patterned and white patches on the skin of the ball python. The last one, the greatest reduction in TFEC gene expression, is the high white piebald ball python. The average reduction of TFEC gene expression is between 17.28 to 48.92-fold, reflecting the almost white area in the skin. Our study is the first report of differential expression of the TFEC gene in the variant type of the piebald ball python.

 

Keywords: Piebald, Ball python, Python regius, Gene expression, TFEC gene, qPCR

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