Agouti (coloration)

A cat hair showing agouti coloration

Agouti is a type of

gray or dull brown,^[3] although dull yellow

Agouti fur is characterized by an appearance of being composed of hairs of different colors, separate from definite markings (although agouti can appear in combination with other markings, such as spots, stripes or patches). This effect is caused by different portions of each hair being visible, such that different colors of the hair's banding is seen, despite hairs actually having similar coloration. This effect produces a very distinctive, finely "speckled" appearance similar to "salt and pepper" hair, as well as an

iridescent effect very similar to shot silk

which causes the overall color to appear to shift subtly depending on the angle of the light or when the animal moves.

Agouti fur is the

rodents such as the namesake agouti

.

Canines

In

dogs there are four alleles on the agouti locus with the hierarchy of dominance (epistasis

): Ay, aw, at, a.

This means a descendant can only develop a recessive coat pattern in the

genetic carriers of the corresponding allele or if one parent inherits an epistatically underlying allele to the offspring.^[4] The alleles Ay, at and an are not present in wild wolves that have no domestic dog among their ancestors.^[5]

An Iberian wolf with agouti coloration
An agouti dog
Australian Kelpie Genotype at
black and tan
Great Dane Genotyp Ay either homozygous or in combination with one of the other alleles
cross of two different homozygous individuals
cross of two
genetic carriers
Cross of a homozygous individual with a carrier

House Mice (Mus musculus)

In fancy mice there are eight common alleles on the Agouti locus with the hierarchy of: Aʸ, Aᵛʸ, Aʰᵛʸ, Aʷ, A, aᵗ, a, and aᵉ.

A lethal yellow lab mouse with the genotype Aʸ/a.
Five viable yellow brindle mice with the genotype Aᵛʸ/*. They range from solid yellow to pseudoagouti.

References

^ "Department of Animal Science - Basic Animal Genetics". Cornell University. 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
^ "The "A" Locus". The Mini Lop Guide. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
^ Anthony JF Griffiths, Jeffrey H Miller, David T Suzuki, Richard C Lewontin, and William M Gelbart. "An Introduction to Genetic Analysis, 7th edition". NCBI Bookshelf. Retrieved 2019-11-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Sheila M. Schmutz: Dog coat color genetics 2010
^ Sheila M. Schmutz: Agouti Sequence Polymorphisms in Coyotes, Wolves and Dogs Suggest Hybridization

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[1] "Department of Animal Science - Basic Animal Genetics". Cornell University. 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2024.

[2] "The "A" Locus". The Mini Lop Guide. Retrieved 2019-11-20.

[3] Anthony JF Griffiths, Jeffrey H Miller, David T Suzuki, Richard C Lewontin, and William M Gelbart. "An Introduction to Genetic Analysis, 7th edition". NCBI Bookshelf. Retrieved 2019-11-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[4] Sheila M. Schmutz: Dog coat color genetics 2010

[5] Sheila M. Schmutz: Agouti Sequence Polymorphisms in Coyotes, Wolves and Dogs Suggest Hybridization

[3]

[4]

[5]

Canines

House Mice (Mus musculus)

See also

References