A group of scientists discovered the genetic mutation that makes some cats oranges. It is an alteration that does not occur in any other mammal and that in its case is linked to sex, which makes it more frequent among males.
The study, led by Dr. Christopher Kaelin at Stanford University (California) and published in Current Biology magazine, reveals a unique connection between the X chromosome of the felines and the orange tone of his fur.
There are many mammals – like the tigers, the Golden retrievers or even the red -haired humans – who have hair of that color, but, according to Kaelin, in “none of those cases is related to sex.”
The mutation, which nicknamed “orange linked to sex”, is found on the X chromosome, which makes only this tone more present among the males than among the females.
As in most mammals, females have two chromosomes of that type and males, one X and another Y.
Therefore, for a male cat to be orange, it only needs this variation to occur once, in its X chromosome, while the cats need to happen in both of them, somewhat less likely, the investigation points out.
“The cats with a single copy of the mutation show a partially orange fur with a mottled pattern known as ‘caress’, or with orange, black and white patches known as ‘Calicó’,” they explain.
This finding established the “genetic exception identified more than a hundred years ago,” according to Kaelin, and that until now had an answer.
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After analyzing about fifty variants of the X chromosome shared in orange cats and eliminating those that also occurred in those of another color, Arhgap36 found, an activating protein that until now had not been related to pigmentation.
This gene is normally expressed in neuroendocrine tissues – in which they interact the nervous system and the endocrine system – and was being studied in the fields of cancer and the biology of development.
“ARHGAP36 is not expressed in pigment cells of mice, humans or non -orange cats,” said Kaelin. “However, the mutation in orange cats seems to activate the expression of Arhgap36 in the pigmentary cell.”
The study coordinator referred to this phenomenon as a “very unusual” and advanced that these discoveries are an entrance door to understand how other physical features such as the spots of the gueprados or the shape of the body of the dolphins emerge.
Despite the influence on color, work did not find that Arhgap36’s expression influences skin -unrelated tissues.
“I do not believe that we can completely rule out the possibility that there is an altered expression of the gene in some tissue that we have not tried and that it can affect behavior. But I think the reputation of orange cats as adorable chaos agents is due to the fact that most of them are males,” said Kaelin.
In addition to Stanford researchers, members of the University of Brown (Rhode Island), the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research and the University of Auburn (Alabama) also participated.
With EFE information
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