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Gene Controlling Dog Hair Color Identified
STANFORD, Calif.,(UPI) -- U.S. researchers have found a gene previously
believed to play a role in fighting infection actually determines coat
color in dogs.
Led by genetics
Professor Greg Barsh of the Stanford University School of Medicine, the
scientists confirmed the long-held suspicion that coat color in dogs is
determined by a different genetic mechanism than the one responsible for
coat color in other mammals.
Barsh and his
team swabbed the inner cheeks of hundreds of dogs and analyzed the DNA
in the resulting samples. They found the gene controlling coat color in
dogs makes a protein that had been believed to fight infections, but which
actually controls the type of melanin the body produces as well as the
amount of cortisol -- a chemical important for the adaptation to stress
and the regulation of weight.
One version
of the gene produces yellow fur while another version produces black fur.
The research team found that all coat colors in dogs are modifications
of black and yellow.
Barsh said the
team’s work might have important implications for the development of
personalized medicine and individualized treatments based on genetic factors.
