Genetics of a Cat's Fur Quiz

Genetics of a Cat's Fur

• Cat coat genetics determine the coloration, pattern, length, and texture of feline fur.

• A cat may display the coat of a certain breed without actually being that breed.

• The browning gene B/b/bl codes for TYRP1, an enzyme involved in the metabolic pathway for eumelanin pigment production.

• The sex-linked Orange locus, O/o, determines whether a cat will produce eumelanin.

• Dilution and Maltesing genes affect fur color.

• The Agouti gene, with its dominant A allele and recessive a allele, controls the coding for agouti signaling protein (ASIP).

• The non-agouti or "hypermelanistic" allele, a, does not initiate this shift in the pigmentation pathway.

• Tabby cats are striped due to the agouti gene.

• The Tabby gene on chromosome A1 accounts for most tabby patterns seen in domestic cats.

• Tortoiseshells have patches of orange fur and black or brown fur, caused by X-inactivation.

• White spotting and epistatic white were long thought to be two separate genes, but in fact, they are both on the KIT gene.

• The colorpoint pattern is most commonly associated with Siamese cats, but may also appear in any domesticated cat.Genetics of Cat Fur Summary

• The mocha color pattern in Burmese cats is caused by a novel mutation.

• Mutations in the tyrosine pathway can affect both pigmentation and neurological development, resulting in cross-eyes in colorpoint cats and white tigers.

• Two distinct alleles causing blue-eyed and pink-eyed albinism respectively have been previously theorized.

• The silver series is caused by the melanin inhibitor gene I/i which suppresses melanin production, affecting phaeomelanin more than eumelanin. It turns the background of tabbies silver while leaving the stripe color intact and makes solid cats silver smoke.

• Wide band factors affect the silver band at the base of the hair, making the silver agouti cat range from silver tabby to tipped silver.

• The golden series is caused by the CORIN gene and results in golden tabbies when combined with the wide band trait.

• The genetics involved in producing the ideal tabby, tipped, shaded, or smoke cat are complex due to many interacting genes and the expression of genes conflicting with each other.

• Fever coat is when a pregnant female cat has a fever or is stressed, causing her unborn kittens' fur to develop a silver-type color.

• The Length gene codes for short hair and long hair. A rare recessive shorthair gene has been observed in some lines of Persian cats.

• There have been many genes identified that result in unusual cat fur, some of which are in danger of going extinct.

• Some rex cats are prone to temporary hairlessness, known as baldness, during moulting.

• Loci for coat color, type, and length have been identified.