What does the word “Agouti” mean?
Agouti is a rodent living in South America, which has a typical hair color pattern that is also found in many other animals (mice, rats, rabbits etc). The hair has dark and light banding, which is controlled by a gene that has been named Agouti. This gene modifies where the black pigment shows up. In the mice, for example, it gets switched on/off during hair growth, and therefore the so called grey (wild-type) mice have a part of the hair that contains the yellow/brown pigment (Agouti is on), which alternates with black (Agouti off). This gene is found in all mammals. There are two confirmed variants of this same gene in horses (A, and a), which are responsible for the difference between bay (black hair only in the mane, tail, and legs), and solid black color.
Agouti is a rodent living in South America, which has a typical hair color pattern that is also found in many other animals (mice, rats, rabbits etc). The hair has dark and light banding, which is controlled by a gene that has been named Agouti. This gene modifies where the black pigment shows up. In the mice, for example, it gets switched on/off during hair growth, and therefore the so called grey (wild-type) mice have a part of the hair that contains the yellow/brown pigment (Agouti is on), which alternates with black (Agouti off). This gene is found in all mammals. There are two variants of this same gene in horses (A, and a) which are responsible for the difference between bay (black hair only in the mane, tail, and legs), and solid black color. BTW – It is my understanding that some of the gene names we are using in pets and life stock were taken originally after the gene names in laboratory mice. These include for example Agouti, or Extension (black and red factor). 5. A few of o
