Colour DNA of Lo and Dottie

As you most likely know by now both David and me are very interested in colour genetics of salukis. For this reason we colour test all our salukis. We already knew what Oonah’s colour code is so three weeks ago we ordered a test of her daughters Lo and Dottie and now we got the results. I would like to also mention that we always order colour tests from The Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL). The VGL is a non-profit, self-supporting unit of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, US.

Dottie’s colour code is:

Eg/e – one copy of grizzle (Eg) and one copy of red/gold/crème (e)

ASIP^DY/ASIP^BB1 – one copy of dominant yellow (ASIP^DY) and one copy of black back 1 (ASIP^BB1). This is new, improved, testing of the agouti allele. If written in legacy way it would stand for a^y/a^t. Please check the below picture for detailed explanation.

n/S – one copy of piebald. Note that in salukis there is most likely also an additional, yet unidentified, mutation or mutations in the genome that may lead to a similar trait.

Lo’s colour code is:

Eg/e – one copy of grizzle (Eg) and one copy of red/gold/crème (e)

ASIP^DY/ASIP^BB1 – one copy of shaded yellow (ASIP^SY) and one copy of black back 1 (ASIP^BB1). This is new, improved, testing of the agouti allele. If written in legacy way it would stand for a^y/a^t. Please check the below picture for detailed explanation.

n/n – does not cary piebald. Note that in salukis there is most likely also an additional, yet unidentified, mutation or mutations in the genome that may lead to a similar trait. This is most likely why Lo has white on one paw and on her chest as well as a couple of white hairs on the top of her tail.

So what does the above test results give us?

Knowing the colour DNA code of Lo and Dottie makes it more interesting when it comes to guessing which colour their puppies will be. Knowledge about the colour coding is more for fun.

What is far more important is to do health tests. We always health test our dogs prior to the mating to avoid any diseases being inherited by the puppies.