Cat Fur Toy

The genetics of cat coat coloration, pattern, length, and texture is a complex subject, and many different genes are involved.


Genes involved in albinism, dominant white, and white spotting

  • The "C" gene codes for the enzyme tyrosinase, the first step in pigment production. Its recessive alleles determine whether a cat is a complete albino (pink-eyed) or a temperature sensitive albino. The temperature sensitive albino genotypes are c b c b Burmese (sepia), c s c s Siamese (pointed), and c b c s Tonkinese (mink). The c s c s gene can turn a cat's eyes blue due to a reduced number of melanocytes, affecting pigmentation of the eyes. If a cat has the dominant C allele, then the cat is non-albino and full pigment production occurs.
  • The white masking gene, W/w . The "W" gene prevents the normal replication and migration of pigment producing cells during embryologic development. As a result, WW and Ww cats have a greatly reduced number of melanocytes and appear white, no matter what other color genes it may carry. Only a cat that is homozygous recessive ( ww ) will express normal pigmentation.Thus, W is epistatic to the other coat pigmentation genes. Some cats with the W allele of this gene are deaf and/or have depigmentation of the iris of one or both eyes, resulting in blue eye color. White cats are also more likely to get skin cancer.
  • The white spotting or piebald spotting gene, S/s , has variable expression, so that an SS cat often has more extensive white patching than an Ss cat. It is this gene that creates the familiar white blaze across the face, a white bib, tuxedo pattern, or dappled paws. A hypothetical Sb allele ("gloving gene") may cause the mittens in Birman and Snowshoe breeds. Some researchers believe that there are separate white spotting genes for distinct forms of white pattern, such as the white locket that some cats have on their neck or bellies.

Genes involved in orange, black, brown, and diluted colors

  • The sex-linked orange gene, O , determines if there will be orange fur. This gene is located on the X chromosome. In cats with orange fur, phaeomelanin (orange pigment) completely replaces eumelanin (black or brown pigment).
  • Males have only one X chromosome, so only have one allele of this gene. O results in orange fur, and o results in non-orange fur.
  • Since females have two X chromosomes, they have two alleles of this gene. OO results in orange fur, oo results in non-orange fur, and Oo results in a tortoiseshell cat, in which some parts of the fur are orange and others areas non-orange. A cat with Oo and white spotting genes is commonly called a calico. The reason for the patchwork effect in female cats heterozygous for the O gene (Oo) is X-inactivation – one or the other X chromosome in every cell in the embryo is randomly inactivated (see Barr body), and the gene in the other X chromosome is expressed.
  • Rufous polygenes, as yet unidentified, can affect the richness of the orange gene's expression.

For a cat to be tortoiseshell, calico, or one of the variants such as blue-cream or chocolate tortoiseshell, the cat must simultaneously express two alleles, O and o , which are located on the X chromosome. Males normally cannot do this, as they have only one X chromosome, and therefore only one allele, and so calico cats are normally only female. Male tortoiseshell or calico cats occur only if they have chromosomal abnormalities such as the genotype XXY (in which case they are sterile), chromosomal mosaicism (only portions of their cells have the genotype XXY, so these cats may be fertile), or chimericism (a single individual formed from two fused embryos, at least one of which was male). Approximately 1 in 3,000 calico/tortoiseshell cats are male. Chimericism (which may result in fertile male cats) appears to be the most common mechanism.

  • The browning gene B/b/b l codes for tyrosinase related protein-1, an enzyme involved in the metabolic pathway for eumelanin pigment production. Its dominant form, B , will produce black color. Recessive variants are b , producing brown (or chocolate ), and b l producing light brown or cinnamon .
  • Barrington Brown is a recessive browning gene that dilutes black to mahogany, brown to light brown and chocolate to pale coffee. It is different from the browning gene and has only been observed in laboratory cats.
  • The Dense pigment gene, D/d , codes for melanophilin, a protein involved in the transportation and deposition of pigment into a growing hair. When a cat has two of the recessive d alleles (Maltese dilution), black fur becomes "blue" (appearing gray), chocolate fur becomes "lilac" (appearing light brown), cinnamon fur becomes fawn, and orange fur becomes cream.
  • Dilution modifier gene, Dm, "caramelizes" the dilute colors as a dominant trait. The existence of this phenomenon as a discrete gene is a controversial subject among feline enthusiasts.
  • A mutation at the extension locus E/e (the melanocortin receptor) changes black pigment to amber or light amber. This phenomenon was first identified in Norwegian Forest Cats.
  • A modifying factor has also been hypothesized in shaded silver and chinchilla Persians whose fur turns pale golden in adulthood, due to low levels of phaeomelanin production. These cats resemble shaded or tipped goldens, but are genetically shaded or tipped silvers. This is probably related to the phenomenon known as "tarnishing" in silvers.

One can deduce that a grey male cat with a white bib and paws:

  • has the o variant of the orange gene on its only X chromosome (because the grey color corresponds to black, not orange)
  • has at least one S variant of the white Spotting gene (because it has the white bib and paws)
  • has two w alleles (because it expresses a fur color)
  • has the dominant B allele (because its fur color is a shade of black rather than brown)
  • has two d (dilute) alleles (because its fur is grey, rather than black)

Genes involved in fur pattern and shading

  • The agouti gene, A/a which codes for agouti signaling protein. The dominant, wild-type A causes the agouti shift phenomenon which causes hairs to be black pigmented at the tips and orange pigmented at the roots (revealing the underlying tabby pattern), while the recessive non-agouti or "hypermelanistic" allele, a , prevents this shift in the pigmentation pathway. In its homozygous form, aa, this results in black pigment production throughout the growth cycle of the hair. Thus, the non-agouti genotype (aa) masks or hides the tabby pattern, although sometimes a suggestion of the underlying pattern can be seen (called "ghost striping"), especially in kittens. The O allele is also epistatic over the aa genotype. That is, the A to a mutation does not have a discernible effect on red or cream colored cats, resulting in these cats displaying tabby striping independent of their genotype at this locus. This explains why you can usually see the tabby pattern in the orange patches of non-agouti tortoiseshell cats, but not in the black or brown patches.
  • The primary tabby pattern gene, Mc/mc , sets the basic pattern of stripes that underlies the coat: the basic wild-type tabby gene, Mc , produces what is called a mackerel striped tabby (stripes look like thin fishbones and may break up into bars or spots); while a recessive mutant, mc , produces a blotched or classic tabby pattern (broad bands, whorls, and spirals of dark color on pale background usually with bulls-eye or oyster pattern on flank), common in Great Britain and in lands that were once part of the British Empire.
  • Secondary tabby pattern genes such as T a / t a , at which locus a dominant mutation produces an Abyssinian ticked or non-patterned agouti tabby, having virtually no stripes or bars. (This is one type of unpatterned tabby; the other type of unpatterned tabby is the shaded/chinchilla. See inhibited pigment gene, below.) The dominant ticked tabby allele masks all other tabby patterns.
  • Other genes ( pattern modifier genes) are theorized to be responsible for creating various type of spotting patterns, many of which are variations on a basic mackerel or classic pattern. There are also hypothetical factors which affect the timing and frequency of the agouti shift, affecting agouti band width and the number and quality of alternating bands of eumelanin and phaeomelanin on individual hairs.

Tabby cats (AA or Aa), normally have:

  • M on forehead. (Visible in ticked tabby cats, b

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