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Ticked Coat Color (Ti^CK, Ti^A)
| Acronym: | TICK |
| Gene: | DKK4 |
| Mutation: | c.53C>T, c.188G>A |
| Inheritance: | Autosomal dominant |
| Sample type: | CHS (Cheek Swab), WBE (Whole Blood EDTA) |
Genetics and characteristics
Ticked Coat Color is another coat patterning in domestic cats along the Tabby coat markings and it is the most common in the Abyssinian and Singapura cat breeds. Unlike Tabby coat pattern that causes stripes, blotches, swirls, or spots, Ticked tabbies do not have any pattern, but have ticked, agouti hairs throughout the coat. However, the Ticked locus can produce a few markings and possible stripes on the head, legs, and tail but not on the torso of the cat. These hairs can have limited ticking, with one band of dark pigment eumelanin at the tip and baseband of the light pigment pheomelanin, or the fur can have several alternating bands of eumelanin and pheomelanin. The cause of Ticket coat color has been identified in the DKK4 gene which is a member of the dickkopf (Dkk) family of cysteine‐rich secretory proteins involved in anteroposterior axial coat patterning.
Ticket coat color in cats shows an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance meaning that cats that carry one or both mutated DKK4 genes will develop that type of coat color pattern. This mutation is also dominant to the Tabby locus and it suppresses and masks its stripes and swirls. Early genetic testing can identify carriers of the specific variant that causes ticked coat patterns and help breeders in the future selection of mating pairs.
Results Reported As
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References:
Lyons, L. A., Buckley, R. M., Harvey, R. J., 99 Lives Cat Genome Consortium (2021). Mining the 99 Lives Cat Genome Sequencing Consortium database implicates genes and variants for the Ticked locus in domestic cats (Felis catus). Animal genetics, 52(3), 321–332. https://doi.org/10.1111/age.13059
Kaelin, C. B., McGowan, K. A., Barsh, G. S. (2021). Developmental genetics of color pattern establishment in cats. Nature communications, 12(1), 5127. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25348-2