Mutation Has Led to a New Type of Cat, Scientists Say
futurism.com
A research team have identified a new type of cat whose distinctive fur on its back coat is caused by a unique mutation.

A research team has identified a new type of cat which has the typical adorable face and fur pattern of the black and white tuxedo cat, but with a difference: the fur on this feline’s back starts off with a solid color at its base, such as black, and gradually turns white at the tip — all caused by a unique mutation.

“In summary, comparative data from other species and genotype segregation analysis support the newly discovered KIT region deletion as potentially being a cause of salmiak coat color in cats,” the researchers conclude.

  • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.worldOP
    431·
    5 months ago

    The researchers — made up of scientists and animal welfare advocates — revealed this new cat in a study published earlier this month in the journal Animal Genetics and gave its uncommon cat coloring the name salmiak, after a popular salty licorice in Finnish, to invoke the salt and pepper fur of this kitty.

    Research was “First published: 09 May 2024”

    Abstract

    Cats with a distinctive white hair pattern of unknown molecular cause have been discovered in the Finnish domestic cat population. Based on the unique appearance of these cats, we have named this phenotype salmiak (“salty licorice”). The use of a commercially available panel test to genotype four salmiak-colored cats revealed the absence of all known variants associated with white-haired phenotypic loci: full White (W), Spotting (Ws) and the Birman white Gloves associated (wg) allele of the KIT proto-oncogene (KIT) gene. Whole-genome sequencing on two salmiak-colored cats was conducted to search for candidate causal variants in the KIT gene. Despite a lack of coding variants, visual inspection of the short read alignments revealed a large ~95 kb deletion located ~65 kb downstream of the KIT gene in the salmiak cats. Additional PCR genotyping of 180 domestic cats and three salmiak-colored cats confirmed the homozygous derived variant genotype fully concordant with the salmiak phenotype. We suggest the newly identified variant be designated as wsal for “w salmiak”.

    Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/age.13438