-
agouti
- • results in individual hair striping
- • dominant alleles produces hairs that are dark with light bands
- • amount of striping may be variable, giving lighter or darker tabbies (see below)
- • AA or Aa - agouti hairs
- • aa - solid pigmented hairs = non-agouti
tabby
Tabby is represented by multialleles that provide the "background" for the coat striping produced by the agouti locus. Tabby patterns can be dark vertebral lines and unstriped or thinly striped flanks, stripes all over, or whorls and blotches rather than stripes. If agouti is present, tabby patterns can be seen in most colors of cats
black
- • BB or Bb - black pigment (eumelanin);
- • bb - brown pigment
dilute
- • codes for packing or distribution of melanin in hairs;
- • DD or Dd - normal packing
- • dd - less packing
spotting
- • pigment producing cells are absent (S)
- • codominant - highly variable
- • ss - no white spots
- • Ss - white spots on less than 1/2 of body
- • SS- white spots on more than 1/2 of body
orange
- • sex-linked; phaenomelanin is produced instead of eumelanin
- • OY - orange male
- • OO -orange female
- • Oo - tortoiseshell cat (blotches of orange and tabby/black)
- • Other genes enrich or dilute the color of orange cats independently of the O gene
white
- • removes all melanin from coat; reduces pigment in eyes, resulting in blue or yellow eyes; deafness, especially with blue-eyes; good example of both epistasis and pleiotrophy
- • WW or Ww - white
- • ww - nonwhite
