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Curly/Woolly Coat, Cornish Rex and German Rex
| Acronym: | |
| Gene: | LPAR6 |
| Mutation: | c.250_253del |
| Inheritance: | Autosomal recessive |
| Sample type: | CHS (Cheek Swab), WBE (Whole Blood EDTA) |
Genetics and characteristics
Curly coat in cats is rare and it is associated with only a few cat breeds, but it is an important characteristic along with coat color, hair length, and growth pattern. Several rexoid or woolly hair conditions have been described in breeds such as LaPerm, Devon Rex, and Selkirk Rex cats, and they are all connected to the Cu (Curly) Locus. However, curliness in Cornish rex and German Rex cats has a different cause – a mutation in the LPAR6 gene. LPAR6 encodes a G protein-coupled receptor abundantly expressed in the inner root sheath of the hair follicle and a protein essential for maintaining the structural integrity of the hair shaft. Its dysfunction results in a wooly hair phenotype.
Coat curliness in Cornish Rex and German Rex cats is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait meaning both mutated LPAR6 genes are required for a cat to develop a woolly coat. Cats that carry only one mutated gene will not have a curly coat but may act as carriers and possibly pass the specific mutation to their offspring. Early genetic testing can help identify the carriers of this salient feature and help breeders in selection of the future mating pairs.
Results Reported As
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References:
Gandolfi, B., Alhaddad, H., Affolter, V. K., Brockman, J., Haggstrom, J., Joslin, S. E., Koehne, A. L., Mullikin, J. C., Outerbridge, C. A., Warren, W. C., Lyons, L. A. (2013). To the Root of the Curl: A Signature of a Recent Selective Sweep Identifies a Mutation That Defines the Cornish Rex Cat Breed. PloS one, 8(6), e67105. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0067105
Robinson R. (1968). German rex: a rexoid coat mutant in the cat. Genetica, 39(3), 351–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02324474
Rodney, A. R., Buckley, R. M., Fulton, R. S., Fronick, C., Richmond, T., Helps, C. R., Pantke, P., Trent, D. J., Vernau, K. M., Munday, J. S., Lewin, A. C., Middleton, R., Lyons, L. A., Warren, W. C. (2021). A domestic cat whole exome sequencing resource for trait discovery. Scientific reports, 11(1), 7159. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86200-7