Springer Book Archives

1: Introduction.- I. The Coat of the Mouse and Its Development.- 2: The Agouti and Extension Series of Alleles, Umbrous, and Sable.- I. The Agouti Locus.- II. The Extension Series of Alleles.- III. "Umbrous" and Sable Determinants.- 3: The ft-Locus and c (Albino) Series of Alleles.- I. The b-Locus.- II. The c (Albino) Series of Alleles.- 4: Dilute and Leaden, the p-Locus, Ruby-Eye, and Ruby-Eye-2.- I. Dilute (d) and Leaden (In).- II. The p-Locus (Pink-Eyed Dilution).- III. Ruby-Eye (ru).- IV. Ruby-Eye-2 (ru-2).- 5: Grey-Lethal, Grizzled, Mocha, Pallid, Muted, Misty, and Pearl.- I. Grey-Lethal (gl).- II. Grizzled (gr).- III. Mocha (mh).- IV. Pallid (pa).- V. Muted (mu).- VI. Misty (m).- VII. Pearl (pe).- 6: Beige, Silver, Greying with Age, and Other Determinants.- I. Beige (bg).- II. Silver (si).- III. Greying with Age (Ga).- IV. Other Determinants.- 7: The Pigment Patterns of Allophenic Mice and Their Significance.- I. The Standard Pattern.- II. Modified Patterns.- III. Inception of Gene Activity.- IV. Expression of Albinism and Occurrence of Bicolored Hairs.- V. Hair Follicle Clones.- VI. Expression of Allophenic Patterns in Single Genotype Mice.- VII. Allophenic Patterns and the Etiology of White Spotting.- 8: X-Linked Determinants.- I. X-Chromosome Inactivation and the Allophenic Model.- II. The Mottled Locus.- III. Yellow Mottling (Ym) and Pewter (Pew).- 9: White Spotting: Piebald, Lethal Spotting, and Belted.- I. Introduction.- II. Piebald Alleles.- III. Lethal Spotting (Is).- IV. Belted.- 10: Dominant Spotting, Patch, and Rump-White.- I. Dominant Spotting (W-Locus).- II. Patch (Ph) and Rump-White (Rw).- 11: Steel, Flexed-Tailed, Splotch, and Varitint-Waddler.- I. Steel (SI).- II. Flexed-Tailed (f).- III. Splotch (Sp) and Delayed Splotch (Spd).- IV. Varitint-Waddler (Va) and Varitint-Waddler-J (Vaj).- 12: Microphthalmia and Other Considerations.- I. Microphthalmia Locus.- II. Other Determinants Associated with White Spotting.- III. Influence of Some Coat-Color Determinants on White Spotting.- IV. Mutation Rates.- References.- Author Index.

Many investigators seem to be fascinated by the coat colors of the mam mals with which they work. This seems to be the case particularly for those utilizing isogenic strains of mice, not only because such strains display wide ly different phenotypes, but because scientists, by definition, are an inquisi tive lot and it is sometimes difficult for the uninitiated to comprehend how such phenotypes are produced. This bewilderment becomes even more ap parent if the investigator happens to be involved in breeding studies and a number of attractively colored animals, quite different from the original stocks, appear. Thus I can recall numerous occasions when my colleagues, frequently working in areas completely unrelated to any aspect of genetics, have come to me with an attractively pigmented animal or, more likely, with a popUlation of segregating coat color types (usually because they have not tended their animals properly and have ended up with a cage full of F 2S displaying a number of different colors). How, they ask, do such colors come about? While in some cases it is easy to take chalk in hand and explain what has been going on (segregating) and why, in other cases it is virtually impossible. It is extremely difficult because while the interactions of many coat-color factors obey the simple laws of heredity and of predictable gene interactions, others do not.