Motoko Unoki

Keywords orange coat color tortoiseshell cat calico cat ARHGAP36 X chromosome inactivation melanin ultraconserved element RNA sequencing DNA methylation Introduction The domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) is a valued companion animal, a vermin-control agent, and a provider of important biomedical models that most likely descended from a wildcat progenitor subspecies, Felis silvestris lybica, around 10,000 years ago.1,2,3 Domestic cats display a diversity of phenotypic variation, including...

Abstract The X-linked orange (O) locus in domestic cats controls an unknown molecular mechanism that causes the suppression of black-brownish pigmentation in favor of orange coloration. The alternating black-brownish and orange patches seen in tortoiseshell and calico cats are considered as classic examples of the phenotypic expression of random X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) occurring in female mammals.