⇦ coats, colors, & patterns   welcome eridox index   the sausage link message board   the woofarium chatrooms   eridox about us   our hot dogs hotdog stats adults our bratwursts bratwurst stats puppies   frankfurter fotos hunt pics   general info history of wieners   teckel terms   what to look for in a dachsie breeder   coats, colors, & patterns   genetic disorders   nutrition info   of interest current genetics studies   genetic & phenotypic testing   unrelated book research      other resources dachsie links   site references   contact me   terminology In order to understand the information presented on the pages about dachshund coat, color, and pattern genetics, you need to know some basic terms used in the field of genetics.  There are many other terms that are important in the scheme of things, but the following terms are those I use on the pages here. Around these sentences are two diagrams that should help you understand what some of the terms mean.  Please note that the diagrams are very rough and not terribly accurate, but at the least, they represent the general ideas I'm trying to convey. If you aren't clear on the terms and/or diagrams, there are other websites that surely explain things better than I do here:  an easy-to-understand, 'guided tour' explanation, glossary of genetic terms, and "What is [a] [cell/DNA/gene/chromosome]?" are three examples. term definition Wikipedia entry chromosome  a strand of DNA that is comprised of genes click for info gene  a sequence/section of DNA that is comprised of detailed genetic information click for info locus  a point/location on a chromosome that usually corresponds to a specific type of trait in a gene that can be determined by means of genetic testing click for info allele  one of the two copies of a gene or locus There are two alleles per trait. click for info trait  a noticeable feature/quality; traits are determined by genetics and/or the environment click for info homozygous  when two alleles for a trait are identical in type (examples:  cc, MM, or sisi) click for info heterozygous  when two alleles for a trait are different in type (examples:  Cd, Mm, or sisp) click for info dominant  a trait that only needs one allele in order to visibly appear (it produces the same trait whether it is heterozygous or homozygous), and if it has a complementary recessive trait, it masks it  (examples:  Bb, EE) Dominant alleles are usually written with capital letters. click for info recessive  a trait that needs homozygous alleles in order to visibly appear (examples:  dd, ee, or sisi) Recessive alleles are usually written with lowercase letters. click for info to carry for a trait that is present genetically but that is not necessarily visibly seen (example:  if a dog is Bb, it would mean it is black, B, and it carries for chocolate, b, but the chocolate is not visible because chocolate is a recessive color trait and must be homozygous, bb, in order to appear) click for related info polygenic  a trait that is caused by the interaction of alleles at more than one locus on a gene click here or here for info genotype  the alleles/genes that are present genetically but that are not necessarily visibly seen (example:  the genotype of the phenotype of a black coat color is either BB or Bb) click for info phenotype  the visible appearance of two alleles'/genes' effects (example:  the phenotype of the genotype of Bb (black + chocolate) is a black coat color) click for info eumelanin  black and/or brown pigment, whether diluted or undiluted (this includes black, chocolate, blue, and isabella) click for info pheomelanin  red pigment, whether diluted or undiluted (this includes red, blush, cream, buff, etc.) click for info Let me start off with some facts to help break things down... - All dogs have two alleles on each series. Two a-series alleles, two b-series alleles, etc. - Dogs (and humans and many other mammals) have two basic types of coat/skin pigment (melanin): eumlanin and pheomelanin. Eumelanin is "black" melanin (can be black, chocolate, blue, or isabella), and pheomelanin is "red" (can be red, blush, cream, cornaz, dondo, etc.) melanin. - The variation of eumelanin a dog can have is determined by the b-series alleles. In all dogs, there are only two b-series alleles to choose from, B and b. Therefore, all dogs are genetically either black (BB or Bb) or chocolate (bb). - The amount (dilution or non-dilution) of pheomelanin a dog can have is determined by the c-series alleles. In dachshunds, there are only two c-series alleles to choose from, C and c^ch. Therefore, all dachshunds are genetically either red (CC), blush (Cc^ch), or cream (c^ch c^ch). C = full pigmentation (red), and c^ch = a type of dilution (called chinchilla dilution, hence the "ch"). - Dilution of eumelanin is determined by the d-series alleles. In all dogs, there are only two b-series alleles to choose from, D and d. Therefore, all dogs are genetically either diluted (dd), undiluted (Dd), or undiluted (DD) on the d-locus. - Although the c-series has its own forms of dilution (c^ch, for example), the d-series can affect the c-series too. So, it's possible for a dog to be doubly diluted. An example of this would be a blue-&-buff. Blue-&-buff = diluted black and diluted cream. On the b-series, it would be BB or Bb, meaning it's black. On the d-series, it would be dd, meaning it's diluted. (Black + d-dilution = blue.) And on the c-series, it would be cream, meaning its pheomelanin is diluted. Now, since the d-series dilution can also affect the c-series, and since the c-series alleles the dog has (c^ch c^ch) are already diluted, the dog's pheomelanin color is buff (very light pheomelanistic color) instead of cream (fairly light pheomelanistic color). But its blue doesn't get more diluted, because eumelanin is only affected by the d-series, not the c-series. - To recap, all dachshunds are either black or chocolate, they are either diluted on the c-series or not (they are either cream, blush, or red), and they are either diluted on the d-series or not. Okay! For the second half of it... - There are other alleles, the pattern alleles, which determine where both (eumelanin or pheomelanin) pigments appear on the coat. - The a^y allele on the a-series says to the two pigments, "do not allow much eumelanin, if any at all, to appear". So an a^y dog that is genetically black (BB), undiluted (DD), and cream (c^ch c^ch) appears, because of the a^y allele, to look mostly pheomelanistic (cream), possibly with some eumelanistic (black) shading on it. If an a^y dog is chocolate (bb), diluted (dd), and blush (Cc^ch), it will probably appear to be all one creamy-reddish color. If it is shaded, the shading probably won't show up well if at all, because the shading would be isabella (bb dd), which looks near to the same as blush (Cc^ch). - Two a^t pattern alleles, though, says to the two pigments, "allow eumelanin to extend over most of the body, but don't let it show up in a few places" (those few places being the points). So an a^t a^t dog that is genetically black (BB), diluted (dd), and cream (c^ch c^ch), because of the two a^t alleles, will look mostly eumelanistic - it will look blue (BB dd) but will have buff (c^ch c^ch dd) points. In short, the patterns do not determine the colors, nor do the colors determine the patterns. Colors and patterns are two totally separate entities. The pattern alleles simply determine where and if the pigments (colors) show up. In many cases, it can be hard to tell what pheomelanistic pigment a dog has. Sometimes reds (CC) can look very light, like blushes (Cc^ch). Or vice versa. That's often true with the a^y allele, but it is also usually true with the ^br brindle modifier. For instance, I have a black-based (BB), undiluted (DD) a^y male with brindling (^br) that is either red (CC) or blush (Cc^ch), but I can't tell which. (Based on his lineage, he could be either.) I can't tell which because his brindling interferes with his pigment distribution (well, that's it's job :) ) - if he is a blush, then he is darker than he would otherwise look were he not a brindle. However, in a decently-pigmented dog, it will never be hard to tell what eumelanin pigment a dog has. You will be able to see the pigment well on the nose, lips, and eyeliner. My boy has a black nose, etc., so he is either BB or Bb on the b-locus (in his case, most likely BB). If it weren't for his brindling allele, the black pigment would not show up much on his coat because of his a^y allele. (The ^br modifier overrules the a^y allele - if the a^y allele says "very little eumelanin", the ^br modifier says, "I beg to differ", and allows the eumelanin, but restricts it into lines/areas, spaced out by lines/areas of pheomelanin.) Please go to the coat/color/pattern index here to read up on: — the color and pattern alleles — coat genetics and related information, with visual examples — color genetics and related information, with visual examples — pattern genetics and related information, with visual examples — coat, color, and pattern dominance hierarchies — coat, color, and pattern probabilities — eye coloration in dogs — nose coloration in dogs Unless otherwise noted: All text, images, & audio, unless noted, are copyright by Lisa J. Emerson & may not be used or reproduced without express permission. All TSL posts are copyright by their respective authors and may not be used or reproduced without their express permission. All pictures are copyright by their respective authors and may not be used or reproduced without their express permission. 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