Red Coat Color Research Articles

The role of melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) receptor in bovine coat color determination.

The melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) receptor has a major function in the regulation of black (eumelanin) versus red (phaeomelanin) pigment synthesis within melanocytes. We report three alleles of the MSH-receptor gene found in cattle. A point mutation in the dominant allele ED gives black coat color, whereas a frameshift mutation, producing a prematurely terminated receptor, in homozygous e/e animals, produces red coat color. The wild-type allele E+ produces a variety of colors, reflecting the possibilities for regulating the normal receptor. Microsatellite analysis, RFLP studies, and coat color information were used to localize the MSH-receptor to bovine Chromosome (Chr) 18.

Inheritance models of North American red fox coat color

The monohybrid and two dihybrid models of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) coat-color inheritance were evaluated using phenotypic frequency data available in the fur trade literature. The monohybrid model fit 62% (N = 21) of the samples from the Northwest Territories and the insular and coastal parts of Alaska. The Warwick – Hanson (allelic interaction) and modified Iljina (dominance modifier) models fit 97% (N = 133) of the samples from other regions. We favor the Warwick – Hanson model over the modified Iljina (Haldane) model with its restrictive assumption that the B locus is fixed for single allele. The results of some of Iljina's experiments suggest that a part of her silver-phase breeding stock was misidentified as to phenotype. If that was the case, a modifier locus is obviated and the Iljina model is identical with that of Warwick and Hanson.