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Re: Paint and pinto coloring



If you really want to get to the nitty-gritty, chestnut is not a color gene
at all! It is a pigment restricting gene. Which pigment is in the hair
shaft, and the patterns of the pigments in the hair shaft, are what reflect
light and give us our 'colors'. The 'chestnut' gene actually restricts the
darker pigment from migrating up the hair shaft. A 'chestnut' horse CAN
carry one of the many 'color' genes at their appropriate locus (location on
the chromosome). When you hear some breeders say how this chestnut mare or
that chestnut stallion produces a large number of black babies when bred to
non-chestnuts, they are not necessarily putting one over on you! :-)

Stephanie McCray
Golden, CO



-----Original Message-----
From: Kirsten Price <kirsten@vermilion.reno.nv.us>
To: ridecamp@endurance.net <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Date: Tuesday, December 01, 1998 8:00 PM
Subject: Re: Paint and pinto coloring


Please be careful with the use of terms "dominant" and "recessive" when
you are talking about equine color genetics.  Technically (at least
according to Sponnenberg)... chestnut is indeed a recessive allele
(requires both alleles, one from each parent, in order to be
expressed).  However, the action of the chestnut alleles when two (both)
are present is to mask the effect of other color genes.  Since you are
talking about different genes at different sites (bay and chestnut for
example), the classic dominant/recessive relationship does not exist
with respect to chestnut and other colors. To say that "chestnut is
dominant to bay" or "gray is dominant to chestnut" is a misleading use
of the term "dominant" when it comes to the interaction of alleles. It
might be more appropriate and less confusing to use the terms "mask" or
"override".

I believe I understand this all well enough to explain it to anyone who
is interested.  Feel free to e-mail me privately and I'll do my best.

--
Kirsten Price
Vermilion Desert Ranch
Reno Nevada

http://www.eqwi.com/Ads/V/Vermillion/vermilion.htm






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