Coat Color Inheritance in basenji

[Monika]

The Agouti Locus - A
The Agouti locus controls the formation of the Agouti protein, that in turn is one of the mechanisms that controls the replacement of eumelanin with phaeomelanin in the growing hair. The alleles of the Agouti locus can affect not just whether or not the eumelanin->phaeomelanin shift occurs, but also where on the dog's body this happens.
The probable alleles at the Agouti locus, in order of decreasing dominance, are: Ay, aw, as, at and a.
Dominant Black. Dogs certainly do have a dominant form of black that is indeed very dominant: completely obliterating all formation of phaeomelanin pigment. Traditionally, dominant black has been placed at the head of the Agouti series (symbol As). It is now believed to be part of a separate series (the K series - see below) and not at the Agouti locus at all. This is in keeping with the operation of the Agouti locus in all other mammals that have it: increasing dominance of Agouti locus alleles results in increasing production of phaeomelanin without exception. We mention it here simply because it has long been thought, mistakenly, to be part of the Agouti locus.
So at the top of the Agouti series then we have Ay, Sable - also known as 'dominant yellow' or 'golden sable'. This results in an essentially phaeomelanic phenotype, but the hair tips are eumelanin (black). The extent of the eumelanin tip varies considerably from lighter sables (where just the ear tips are black) to darker sables - where much of the body is dark. It is possible that Ay is not completely dominant over the lower Agouti series alleles, with an Ay heterozygote e.g. Ayat having a darker body. AyAy may be called 'clear red' whereas Ayat can be 'sabled red'. Sable is a very common colour in many breeds of dog, e.g. German Shepherd.
Next we have aw, 'wolf' colour. This is like Ay but the tan is replaced with a pale grey/cream colour and the hairs usually have several bands of light and dark colour, not just the black tip of sable. Seen in the Keeshond, Siberian and Norwegian Elkhound.
Moving down the series we next come to as, 'saddle tan'. This is somewhat like the black+tan allele (below), except that eumelanin is restricted to the back and side regions, hence the name 'saddle'. It is also possible that this is due to another gene interacting with at/at genotypes.
Allele at, 'black+tan' is next. This is a primarily black dog but with tan (phaeomelanin) markings around the eyes, muzzle, chest, stomach and lower legs. Commonly seen in hounds, Dobermann's and Rottweilers.
Finally, at the bottom of the Agouti series is recessive black, symbol a. When a dog is homozygous for recessive black (aa), it will have no phaeomelanin in its coat (unless it is also ee, which is epistatic to the Agouti series - see below). Examples of breeds that exhibit recessive black are German Shepherd and Shetland Sheepdog. Whilst some breeders discount the presence of a recessive black at the bottom of the Agouti series is is consistent with the behaviour of this locus in many other mammals.
The existence of all these alleles in the Agouti series is not certain, nor is the precise order of dominance of the intermediate alleles aw as and at.

[misspodhradsky]

Thank you for this. I dont understand alot of it but i do understand some of it. What is a Agouti? I know alot of ppl have said it. is it like the DNA link where all the different letters create the whole "agouti" i have NO idea on this part. And an allele? that is what? i know but i have no idea how to describe it…i may not even know its the thing im thinking lol

[lvoss]

Agouti is the name given to the location for wolf grey/sable/tri/recessive black. Most geneticists use A (agouti, wolf grey) and a (recessive black) and the superscripts y (red, sable) and t (tri) for the Agouti series. Since the majority of basenjis seem to have either a^y or a^t, it is easier in these type of forums to a letter like Y to describe the relationship.

[misspodhradsky]

@lvoss:

Agouti is the name given to the location for wolf grey/sable/tri/recessive black. Most geneticists use A (agouti, wolf grey) and a (recessive black) and the superscripts y (red, sable) and t (tri) for the Agouti series. Since the majority of basenjis seem to have either a^y or a^t, it is easier in these type of forums to a letter like Y to describe the relationship.

OH! ok ok i got ya. So when its a^y its really ay (with the y being up higher)
.y
a ignoring the period, is it kinda like that. Ok! i got ya! and i agree, Y is MUCH easier than all that mumble jumble haha. Thanks for the clearification!

um… so was the t (tri) changed to y? for convenience too?

[Monika]

Let me give my example
my bitch Abotere's Zulika is red ant white.
father Abotere's Mogli - brindle white
mother Abotere's Zhenga - brindle white

in brackets are other possibilities red
father DD Kbrk ayay(ayat,ayaw,ayas,a)
mother DD Kbrk ayay(ayat,ayaw,ayas,a)

Zulika is a red and white.
Parents received one literce k
DD kk ayay(ayat,ayaw,ayas,a)

Zulika bore children father is Abotere's Wazhiri(tri color DD kk atat)
Only two alleles atat tri color show

Puppies were born, all red and white
the children I know that design is only one
DDkkayat
all carry the tri gene (at), but it is masked by a gene (ay)

[misspodhradsky]

@Monika:

Let me give my example
my bitch Abotere's Zulika is red ant white.
father Abotere's Mogli - brindle white
mother Abotere's Zhenga - brindle white

in brackets are other possibilities red
father DD Kbrk ayay(ayat,ayaw,ayas,a)
mother DD Kbrk ayay(ayat,ayaw,ayas,a)

Zulika is a red and white.
Parents received one literce k
DD kk ayay(ayat,ayaw,ayas,a)

Zulika bore children father is Abotere's Wazhiri(tri color DD kk atat)
Only two alleles atat tri color show

Puppies were born, all red and white
the children I know that design is only one
DDkkayat
all carry the tri gene (at), but it is masked by a gene (ay)

I guess i kinda get that but i am used to using the letters DD, Yy, Kk, and then for brindle is K^br
so adding ayat and all that is just confusing me. I have been uing the above ones so now im not sure what you mean. is there a way to transform yours using those letters?

[Monika]

you're in the middle of agouti

[misspodhradsky]

OH MY GOSH ITS ADORABLE!!!! I have never seen a basenji with that coloring before! that is so crazy!

So what is her gene pool? or what do you call her in regards to coloring?

[Monika]

Y is ay
y is at,aw,as,a

[misspodhradsky]

ok it my girls parents are (mom) RD and (dad) BLK. I figured mom would be DDKkYY and dad would be DDKKY and its either y or Y.

So would my girl be DDKkYY (she is a red puppy)

[misspodhradsky]

@Monika:

Y is ay
y is ay,at,aw,as,a

Thank you! Now i understand!

[Monika]

DD kk awaw(awas,awat,awa)
Dd kk awaw(awas,awat,awa)

[misspodhradsky]

wow she is simply georgous! so she is technically called a tri? how is that?

[Monika]

This is the agouti

[Monika]

I must flee.
greet

[misspodhradsky]

o ok. i got ya. is that a recognized color in the breed? I have never seen this before! She looks so cool! just like Lvoss said, wolf like. She really does look like it! thats awesome! How did u get her?

[misspodhradsky]

@Monika:

I must flee.
greet

ok have a nice night! thanks for sharing!

[misspodhradsky]

one last thing for anyone to answer. ok lets say there is a 16 punnet square.

The thing is br br br br down the left side and along the top is br Br bR BR

you will get Bbrr, bbRr, bbrr, and BbRr,

Bbrr is black. bbRr is red. bbrr is Tri and BbRr is black also.

ok so here is my question. BbRr is Black but if there is a R that is a dominant Red, so what does that mean? does that mean this dog is able to produce red puppies tho it is a black and white? or does this mean that the black was just more dominant in this color pattern and it over took the red making the dog look black in color. Just curious. thanks

[Monika]

BbRr itd do not relate to race Basenji

[Monika]

Saddle - http://www.basenji.org/african/B_Tena.htm (czaprakowy)
DD Kk a^sa^s and (a^sa)