Coat colors of the cat

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cats of different colors and drawings
Various domestic cat breeds
Ticked cat

The house cat comes in different coat colors , all of which are derived from the colors black, red and white. The colors can be dense or thinned. B. the color blue a dilution of black. The naming of the colors is not uniform, in some breeds imaginative names are sometimes used for the colors. In the Skinning other names for the coat colors and patterns of the domestic cat were common, see fur types of domestic cats .

Genetic overview of the colors

The gene names are not subject to any standardization. Therefore the ones used here may not always be applicable internationally. However, they are used in the literature. The drawings are described in more detail under tabby , the points under point cat .

gene Cross-species gene locus chromosome Color (D-) diluted (dd and d m d m ) modified-diluted (dd and D m -)
A. Agouti locus A3 Agouti (with drawing) - -
a Agouti locus A3 Nonagouti (one color, without drawing) - -
B. Braun locus, oculocutaneous albinism type 3 D4 Black (Black, Seal, Ebony, Natural) Blue Caramel (caramel)
b Braun locus, oculocutaneous albinism type 3 D4 Brown (Chocolate, Chestnut, Havana, Champagne) Lavender (Lilac, Lavender, Platinum, Frost) Taupe (Lilac based Caramel)
b 1 Braun locus, oculocutaneous albinism type 3 D4 Cinnamon colors (Cinnamon, Sorrel, Honey) Beige, deer colors, peach colors (fawn, peach)
C. Tyrosinase locus, oculocutaneous albinism type 1 D1 Full color, without points (coloring) - -
c b Tyrosinase locus, oculocutaneous albinism type 1 D1 Burma Points - -
c b c s Tyrosinase locus, oculocutaneous albinism type 1 D1 Tonkanese Points (Mink) - -
c s Tyrosinase locus, oculocutaneous albinism type 1 D1 Points - -
c Tyrosinase locus, oculocutaneous albinism type 1 D1 Complete albinism (white fur, red eyes) - -
D. MLPH see: Dilute-Gen C1
d MLPH see: Dilute-Gen C1 -
e Extension locus E2 Amber Light amber
e Extension locus E2 Russet Light Russet
G c kit locus Gloves (white gloves) - -
I. Inhibitor locus D2 silver - -
O Orange locus X Red (Red, Flame, Cameo, Auburn) Cream Apricot
S. White spotting locus B1 White spotting - -
Ta Ticked locus B1 Abyssinian ticking - -
T m Tabby locus A1 Strip drawing (mackerel) - -
t b Tabby locus A1 Wheel drawing (blotched, classic) - -
Sp Spotted tabby - -
W. White - -
Wb Golden without silver, shaded, shell or chinchilla with silver - -

Agouti locus: plain or patterned cats

For a cat to be monochrome, the tabby pattern must be masked by another gene. The allele Nonagouti (a) of the agouti locus turns a patterned cat into a monochrome. Striped, brindle, and ticked cats have the allele A for agouti, monochrome cats have the allele a for nonagouti. Red cats always have a visible ghost drawing , it is not possible to breed cats in a single color.

  • Black cat - genotype aa

  • Striped cat - genotype AA or Aa

  • Blue cat - genotype aa lightened by the dilute gene

  • Maine Coon cat - genotype AA or Aa lightened by the dilute gene

Genes that lighten the primary colors

Albino series

Burmese cat - brown with point drawing = Chocolatepoint (genotype bb)

Complete albinos (OCA1) without a functional tyrosinase do not play a role in cat breeding . However, the point drawing of some cat breeds is caused by partial albinism due to a heat-sensitive tyrosinase.

Brown series

Each cat has two alleles of gene location B in its genetic makeup , which are responsible for the black or brown color of the cat's coat. Mutations of the corresponding gene in humans cause oculocutaneous albinism of type 3 (OCA3, oculo-cutane is made up of: oculus = eye, cutaneus = affecting the skin).

So far, three different alleles of gene location B have been significant in cats: the dominant allele B for black, which also corresponds to the wild type , allele b for chestnut brown (chocolate) and allele b l for cinnamon colors (cinnamon). A black cat can also hide the genetic make-up for brown (chocolate) or cinnamon colors (cinnamon), as these two colors are caused by a recessive allele and consequently are covered by the dominant allele for the black coat color. The gene combination is then Bb or Bb l . In extremely rare cases, a genetic defect during cell division leads to a double system of characteristics within a gene. So there can be black cats that carry both the gene for cinnamon and the gene for brown at the same time; However, nature very rarely produces such a faulty gene. This is not a new mutation, but just an incorrect gene that was created by a faulty exchange of fragments during meiosis (section within cell division). The gene for black or brown color is inherited as an autosomal (not sex-linked). So-called brown tabbies have the basic color black, the genetic color is shown in the dark parts of the coat.

The colors brown and cinnamon are not permitted in various cat breeds (e.g. Maine Coon , Norwegian Forest Cat , Siberian Cat ) and are an indication of undesirable crossbreeding.

Dilution and caramelization

Two other genes further influence the color: the dilution or dilute gene (d) and the gene for modified dilution or caramelization (D m ). These two genes must not be superimposed by the dominant “non-dilution” (D) if they are to show their effect. The gene for the modified dilution most likely has its own locus. The "wild form" is (as one of the exceptions) recessive compared to the modified form. The dilutions further weaken the color intensity, so that black first becomes blue and then caramel. In technical terms, a cat is never gray, but always blue.

The caramel factor D m is not permitted in various cat breeds (e.g. Maine Coon or Norwegian Forest Cat ) and is an indication of undesirable crossbreeding.

Aby colors.gif

Amber

Norwegian forest cat, amber brindle with white

In the Norwegian forest cat , the black is lightened to amber (with dilution: light amber; amber: English for amber ) by another gene, which was given the provisional name Bm (Black Modifier) . Amber-colored cats appear black at birth and then gradually get lighter in the course of the first year of life until they appear cinnamon in color. The darker color remains at the tip of the tail. Test pairings were used to ensure that the gene for amber does not belong to one of the following series: black series (B), albino series (coloration, C), dilution (Dilute, D, Dm), inhibitor series (I) and gold series (Wb). How amber interacts with the other alleles of the black series as black (B) has not been researched until now (2007), since these alleles do not occur in the Norwegian forest cat. In 2007 and 2008, Marc Peterschmitt (France) identified this gene mutation as an independent gene in his doctoral thesis on Norwegian forest cats in the colors amber and amber tabby. It is located on the extension locus that was first discovered for cats . The extension locus has been known to have similar effects in other animal species for years; it leads to red hair in humans, foxes in horses and deer-colored fur in dog breeds such as the golden retriever and the setter .

Analogous to the gene codes used there, the terminology E / e is suitable for the expression of the amber color, where E (dominant allele) is responsible for the wild color, as it appears externally in the genotype Ee and e (recessive allele) as ee is responsible for the externally visible amber color.

In the meantime, commercial tests are available to obtain certainty about the genetic color predisposition, especially in the case of amber varieties that are difficult to identify, such as light amber non-agouti.

red

  • Red Cat

  • Tabby tortoiseshell cat

  • Black and red tortoiseshell cat

  • Siamese cat Redpoint

  • Burmese cat (lightened red by diluting to cream)

  • Turkish angora in red-silver-tabby

  • Long-haired cat, red with white

The gene for red color is on the X chromosome and occurs in two alleles O (red) and o (non-red). Since they only have one X chromosome, hangovers have only one allele of the gene. If this is the gene o for non-red, depending on which variant of the agoutilocus is present, they are monochrome or tabby (patterned: striped, ticked or spotted). If they have the allele O for red, they are tabby regardless of which allele is present on the agoutilocus. So there are no solid red cats. The areas that would be black in a tabby cat are orange and the lighter areas are correspondingly lighter orange-pink.

Female cats have two X chromosomes. Therefore it can happen that they both have alleles, i.e. Oo. One of these two genes is inactivated by X- inactivation, which results in red and non-red areas of fur ( codominant inheritance ). Cats with this pattern are called tortoiseshell cats . In individual cases, tortoiseshell cats with two X chromosomes occur (e.g. Klinefelter syndrome , XX hangover ). Due to the sex-linked intermediate inheritance of the red color, red queens must have red or cream-colored fathers and black queens have black fathers (this includes all colors determined by the black series, e.g. blue or chocolate brown).

Red is diluted into cream and apricot. Red house cats usually appear bright orange; the strong red color of the cats of some breeds is due to other genes that increase the red color ( rufism ).

White

Completely white cats

  • White cat

  • White cat with iris heterochromia

  • Long haired white cat

  • Mixed-breed white cat with young

As a rule, white cats are not albinos , but are characterized by leucism : The melanocytes, skin cells that are responsible for the color of the coat, are then missing. The corresponding gene has the alleles W (white color, dominant) and w (no white color, recessive). The gene for white coloring causes the cat to be completely white. Cats with this gene can have eyes that are blue, light brown, or two different colors. Not only in blue-eyed cats, white coloring is often associated with congenital deafness . They also suffer from visual defects and often disturbances of balance.

Cats with white

Most cats, however, have one of the colors described above and a more or less large amount of white. This is determined by the dominant piebald gene S. The proportion of white color is very variable and goes from a white medallion on his chest to an almost pure white cat that hardly shows a different color, like the Turkish Van .

The white gloves of the Birman cat are inherited incompletely dominant and are not caused by the aforementioned piebald gene. The locus, which is referred to as the “Gloves” gene (G, dominant), has now been identified as the c-Kit locus .

  • Tricolor cat showing red, black and white areas of fur (tortoiseshell with white)

  • Red cat with spotting

  • Brindle cat with piebald

  • Holy Burma sealpoint

  • Tomcat with a white spot on his neck

  • Black and white cat - clearly recognizable is the change in coat and therefore skin color that runs over the nose

Two-tone hair

In another group of coat colors, the individual hairs themselves are two-colored. In cat breeding there are colors in which the hair tips are dark and the hair shafts white. Hair with white tips and colored shafts can also occur. Depending on the length of the colored tip, a distinction is made between chinchilla (shell), shaded (shaded) and smoke or silver tabby (with or without drawing), with the dark portion increasing from chinchilla to smoke / silver tabby. The inhibitor gene is responsible for the partial discoloration of the hair. The mutated form I is dominant and responsible for two-colored hair, the wild type i is recessive and responsible for colored hair.

If the basic color of the cat is red, it is sometimes referred to as “cameo”, in which case the length of the colored tips is again referred to as shell cameo or shaded cameo.

  • Hair coloring in chinchilla (shell)

  • Hair coloring when shaded

  • Hair coloring with smoke color (smoke)

Chinchilla (shell)

The top eighth of the hair is colored, the rest is white. If the tips of the hair are black, the color is called "chinchilla". If the basic color is different, the color name is placed before the word chinchilla, e.g. B. Blue chinchilla (blue shell). Chinchilla Persians are listed as a separate breed in some associations. The Burmilla is also a cat breed that is available in the shell variant, among other things.

Silver Shaded

About a fifth of the tip of the hair is pigmented. Are the black hair tips, it is called silver-shaded (silver shaded). If the tip of the hair is pigmented in blue, lilac or red instead of black, this color is added in front of or between "silver" or "shaded". So blue-silver shaded ("blue silver shaded" or "silver blue shaded"). Well-known cats that have shading include Silver Shaded Persians, or the Burmilla .

Smoke-colored or silver moor (Smoke)

Smoke cats (also called smoke-colored cats) look completely monochrome at rest and only show their undercolor when they move. More than half of the hair is colored and only the hair base is white. With red cats one speaks of "cameo smoke", with black cats sometimes of "ebony smoke".

Silver tabby

With silver tabbies, the lighter tabby areas are significantly whiter than with non-silver animals. This increases the contrast of the tabby drawing considerably, making the drawing much more visible. The coloring of the hair corresponds to that of smoke cats.

Pewter colors

A pewter-colored Persian cat is silver-shaded, but has golden-yellow or copper-colored eyes. It is mostly mixed for the inhibitor gene I. Green eyes are standard in the silver-shaded Persian cats.

  • Burmilla tomcat

  • Chinchilla cat

  • British shorthair, silver tabby

  • Smoke colored cat with white

Gold (golden)

In golden cats, the hair shafts are colored beige and the tips of the hair are black. Golden cats are bred as shell , shaded , golden tabby, and golden shaded point . It is noticeable that the nose mirror is flesh-colored and has little or no border, although they are agouti cats. Gold-colored cats are born with more or less black markings that fade to a reddish hue in the adult cat. Black hair tips are retained at the tip of the tail. The development of the golden fur shows a wide range from bright gold to pale beige, so that some cats are not even recognized as genetically golden. The genetics and inheritance of gold coloring has not yet been researched. There are many indications of a recessive inheritance. The color gold was first bred in Persian cats . British Shorthair and British Longhair were added later . For some years now, the Siberian cat in the golden color has also been bred.

Additional colors

This section describes other colors that have no meaning in current cat breeding.

Barrington brown

This is a recessively inherited brown color that is not caused by the known genes of the black series. It performed in a cat colony in Barrington, Illinois in the 1960s . After the end of the scientific research, the cat colony was dissolved in 1969.

Russett

Russett is a mutation that appeared in Burma cats bred in New Zealand in 2007 . Similar to amber coat color, sepia colors change to red over the course of about two years. The change in color is slower than amber. A deletion of 3 base pairs in the MC1R gene (extension locus) is responsible for this color variant.

Web links

Commons : Cats by pattern  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Cats by color  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Desmond Morris : Pedigree Cats: The 100 Cat Breeds; which cat suits which person. Heyne, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-453-15355-3 .
  • Dagmar Thies: Breeding pedigree cats. Kosmos Verlag, ISBN 3-440-10128-2 .
  • M. Menotti-Raymond, et al .: Second-generation integrated genetic linkage / radiation hybrid maps of the domestic cat (Felis catus). In: J Hered. 2003 Jan. – Feb. No. 94 (1), pp. 95-106. Erratum In: J Hered. 2003 Nov. – Dec. No. 94 (6) (following table of contents). PMID 12692169

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Eizirik E, Yuhki N, Johnson WE, Menotti-Raymond M, Hannah SS, O'Brien SJ: Molecular genetics and evolution of melanism in the cat family. Curr Biol. 2003 Mar 4; 13 (5): 448-53. PMID 12620197
  2. ↑ a b c L. A. Lyons, IT Foe, HC Rah, RA Grahn: Chocolate coated cats: TYRP1 mutations for brown color in domestic cats. In: Mamm. Genome May 2005 No. 16 (5), pp. 356-366, PMID 16104383 .
  3. ↑ a b c d A. Schmidt-Küntzel, E. Eizirik, SJ O'Brien, M. Menotti-Raymond: Tyrosinase and tyrosinase related protein 1 alleles specify domestic cat coat color phenotypes of the albino and brown loci. In: J Hered. Jul-Aug 2005 No. 96 (4), pp. 289-301, PMID 15858157 .
  4. ↑ DL Imes, LA Geary, RA Grahn, LA Lyons: Albinism in the domestic cat (Felis catus) is associated with a tyrosinase (TYR) mutation. In: Anim Genet. Apr. 2006 No. 37 (2), pp. 175-178, PMID 16573534 .
  5. ↑ a b Y. Ishida, VA David, E. Eizirik, et al .: A homozygous single-base deletion in MLPH causes the dilute coat color phenotype in the domestic cat. Genomics. 2006 Dec. No. 88 (6), pp. 698-705, Epub: July 24, 2006, PMID 16860533
  6. ↑ a b c Sheila M. Schmutz: Cat Coat Color Genetics
  7. ^ A b M. Menotti-Raymond, et al .: Mapping of the Domestic Cat "SILVER" Coat Color Locus Identifies a Unique Genomic Location for Silver in Mammals. In: J Hered. Apr. 2009 27. PMID 19398491
  8. ↑ Anne Schmidt-Küntzel, M. Menotti-Raymond, et al .: A Domestic cat X Chromosome Linkage Map and the Sex-Linked orange Locus: Mapping of orange, Multiple Origins and Epistasis Over nonagouti In: Genetics April 2009; Vol. 181, pp. 1415-1425
  9. ↑ a b c Eduardo Eizirik et al .: Defining and mapping mammalian coat pattern genes: multiple genomic regions implicated in domestic cat stripes and spots . In: Genetics . tape 184 , no. 1 , 2010, p. 267-275 , doi : 10.1534 / genetics.109.109629 , PMID 19858284 , PMC 2815922 (free full text).
  10. ↑ a b Lyons LA, Bailey SJ, Baysac KC, Byrns G, Erdman CA, Fretwell N, Froenicke L, Gazlay KW, Geary LA, Grahn JC, Grahn RA, Karere GM, Lipinski MJ, Rah H, Ruhe MT, Bach LH : The Tabby cat locus maps to feline chromosome B1 In: Animal Genetics Aug. 2006; 37 (4), pp. 383-386
  11. ↑ dépistage génétique pour la mutation ambre - Le Norvégien: du climat rude scandinave à la chaleur de l'ambre ( Memento of 19 April 2011 at the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ a b c Schmidt-Küntzel A, Nelson G, David VA, Schäffer AA, Eizirik E, Roelke ME, Kehler JS, Hannah SS, O'Brien SJ, Menotti-Raymond M: A Domestic cat X Chromosome Linkage Map and the Sex -Linked orange Locus: Mapping of orange, Multiple Origins and Epistasis Over nonagouti. Genetics. 2009 Apr; 181 (4): 1415-25. Epub 2009 Feb. 2. PMID 19189955
  13. ↑ Sarah Hartwell: RECESSIVE BROWN - THE ENIGMATIC BARRINGTON BROWN GENE (messybeast.com)
  14. ↑ Sarah Hartwell: WHAT COLOR IS MY CAT - THE INDEFINABLE COLORS: Section THE X-COLORS (messybeast.com)