Thursday, March 29, 2012

Guess the Genotype #60

Can you guess this dog's genotype? Its breed?

Image is from Flickr.com under a Creative Commons License



This is Enzo, an Italian greyhound. At first glance, the paleness of his coloration implies that he is fawn/Isabella. However, I don't think that this is the case.

While blue is common in the breed, liver is not. The darkness of Enzo's nose implies that, though his coat is pretty pale, it's unlikely that he is expressing the liver gene. I suspect that he is BB non-liver.

If you look closely, you can see red hints to his shoulder and foreleg. This red is moderate, which I think means he is cchcch moderate red.

Enzo is clearly expressing the dilute blue gene. The paleness of his coat, combined with the blue nose and yellow eyes clearly show this. This would make him dd blue.

Next comes the K locus. Italian greyhounds are known to commonly come in seal, which is also sometimes called "bad black" or "bronze" when seen in other breeds. These dogs, which have tested as having the dominant black gene, have tan that "peeks through" the black. The placement of this tan is predictable, and is usually noticeable on the shoulders, head, and certain others locations. Enzo has hints of tan in these places, which makes me suspect that he is KK seal.

Lastly, Enzo has some white on his chest and toes. Though this could be residual white that is sometimes seen in genetically solid dogs, I suspect that he is actually carrying the Irish white gene. The breed is commonly seen with this amount of white in countries that accept it, including the United States. This would make him Ssi solid carrying Irish white.

So, that's BB cchcch dd KK Ssi or dilute seal with residual white.

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