Submission + - Gene behind orange fur color in cats found at last (science.org)
sciencehabit writes: It would be pretty easy to guess that Garfield was a tomcat even if you didn’t know his name—or didn’t want to peek under his tail. Most orange cats are boys, a quirk of feline genetics that also explains why almost all calicos and tortoiseshells are girls.
Scientists curious about those sex differences—or perhaps just cat lovers—have spent more than 60 years unsuccessfully seeking the gene that causes orange fur and the striking patchwork of colors in calicos and tortoiseshells. Now, two teams have independently found the long-awaited mutation and discovered a protein that influences hair color in a way never seen before in any animal.
Unlike other mammals, the coat colors of cats are partially determined by their sex. Besides orange cats typically being male, calicos and tortoiseshells are almost always female. The phenomenon is due to a quirk in feline genetics: Female cats inherit an X chromosome—the suspected home of the orange fur gene—from each parent. Cells don't generally need both, however, so during embryonic development each cell randomly chooses one X to express genes from, giving calicos and tortoiseshells their striking orange and black patterns. But despite 60 years of searching, scientists haven’t figured out exactly which gene is responsible for the orange color.
In preprints published this month on bioRxiv, scientists say they have independently found the long-awaited orange mutation and discovered a protein that influences hair color in a way never seen before in any animal. Using skin samples collected from various cats, the researchers were able to hone in a mutation on the X chromosome that impacts how much of a protein a gene called Arhgap36 produces. Increasing the amount of the Arhgap36 in pigment producing cells called melanocytes activates a molecular pathway that produces a light red pigment.
“It’s a long-awaited gene,” says Leslie Lyons, a feline geneticist at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Research into cat color has revealed all kinds of phenomena, she says, including how the environment influences gene expression. “Everything you need to know about genetics you can learn from your cat.”
Scientists curious about those sex differences—or perhaps just cat lovers—have spent more than 60 years unsuccessfully seeking the gene that causes orange fur and the striking patchwork of colors in calicos and tortoiseshells. Now, two teams have independently found the long-awaited mutation and discovered a protein that influences hair color in a way never seen before in any animal.
Unlike other mammals, the coat colors of cats are partially determined by their sex. Besides orange cats typically being male, calicos and tortoiseshells are almost always female. The phenomenon is due to a quirk in feline genetics: Female cats inherit an X chromosome—the suspected home of the orange fur gene—from each parent. Cells don't generally need both, however, so during embryonic development each cell randomly chooses one X to express genes from, giving calicos and tortoiseshells their striking orange and black patterns. But despite 60 years of searching, scientists haven’t figured out exactly which gene is responsible for the orange color.
In preprints published this month on bioRxiv, scientists say they have independently found the long-awaited orange mutation and discovered a protein that influences hair color in a way never seen before in any animal. Using skin samples collected from various cats, the researchers were able to hone in a mutation on the X chromosome that impacts how much of a protein a gene called Arhgap36 produces. Increasing the amount of the Arhgap36 in pigment producing cells called melanocytes activates a molecular pathway that produces a light red pigment.
“It’s a long-awaited gene,” says Leslie Lyons, a feline geneticist at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Research into cat color has revealed all kinds of phenomena, she says, including how the environment influences gene expression. “Everything you need to know about genetics you can learn from your cat.”
Gene behind orange fur color in cats found at last More Login
Gene behind orange fur color in cats found at last
Slashdot Top Deals