Genetics of Coat Color in Cattle

a brief review of what is currently known about the genes controlling cattle coat colors and patterns

• Colors

Red and Black Traditional Red and Black Variant Red, or Dominant Red, in Holsteins Changeling, or BR, in Holsteins Pale or Dilute Colors White and White with Colored Points Albinisim "Dilute" Gray in Belgian Blue Dun Brown Patterns Roan Whiteface Spotting Color Sided Hereford Pattern Belted Brindle Breed Studies of Coat Color Braunvieh and Brown Swiss Highland Galloway, Belted Galloway, White Galloway Conditions Associated with Coat Color Coat Color Loci Table and General References DNA Testing for Coat Color Popular Articles Links to other Coat Color Sites

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This webpage was first mounted about 2002 and last updated on January 16, 2016 by Sheila Schmutz

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Coat color was very variable in early domesticated stocks. In many breeds, color became one of the traits under intense selection and ultimately color became part of the identity of many breeds. However in some older breeds, such as Highland and Longhorn, color has remained varied. The painting above hangs in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science in the Agriculture Building at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. We are proud to display this important documentation of our cattle heritage. It is entitled "Higland Cattle - By the Sea" and was painted by William Smellie Watson of Scotland in 1872, before the Highland cattle registry began. It was donated by Al Ewen, who retired as Head of the Department of Animal Husbandry in 1952 when he returned to Aberdeernshire, Scotland.

Coat color has fascinated animal breeders and geneticists for many, many years. Classic breeding experiments told us much about the inheritance of coat colors and patterns in the early to mid 1900's. Only in the last 5 years, have the underlying genes been discovered. Many are yet unknown. Several genes interact with each other to alter the shades of the basic colors. Other genes cause deviations from a solid colored body: roan, whiteface, spotting, color sided, to name a few.

Some colors have economic significance because they have pleiotropic effects (side effects) that can be deleterious. This is, in part, because the precusors to pigment cells are also the precursors to nerve cells. Other colors are just more popular in certain parts of the world so command higher prices even though no benefits or harmful effects have been proven.

This webpage is an attempt to summarize some of the current research being done in coat color. It represents the findings of many laboratories in many places. Whenever possible publications are listed documenting the research supporting the statements. Sometimes the work is not yet published but just the results of experiments in progress, discussions at meetings, or even just hypotheses. This has been included for the benefit of cattle breeders who are trying to utilize coat color as one of the goals in their breeding program. Any deviations from these therefore would be useful to researchers trying to understand the genes yet to be discovered. Please write therefore if your breeding contradicts something here!

• Olson, T. A. and R. L. Willham. 1982. Inheritance of coat coloration and spotting patterns of cattle: a review. Research Bulletin 595, Ames, Iowa
• Olson, T.A. 1999. Genetics of color variation. In The Genetics of Cattle, ed. Fries R, Ruvinsky A. CABI, Wallingford, England. Dowload of pdf file available at:
• Klungland, H. and D. I. Vage. 2000. Molecular genetics of pigmentation in domestic animals. Current Genomics 1:232-242.
• Schmutz, S. M. 2012. Genetics of Coat Color in Cattle. In Bovine Genomics, ed. James Womack. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

  Color Loci Shown to Affect Coat Color in Cattle

  Locus Name	Gene	Alleles	Action	Cattle	Human
  A agouti	ASIP	A, ABr	brindle (ABr/-); shading?	13	20q11
  B brown	TYRP1	B, b	dun brown in Dexter (b/b)	8	9p23
  C albino	TYR	C, c	albinisim in Braunvieh (c/c)	29	11
  D "dilute"	PMEL	D, d	dun & silver dun, pale red in Highland & Galloway; another mutation in Charolais	5	-
  	MLPH		gray in Belgian Blue cattle	3	2q37
  E extension	MC1R	ED, e, E+	black versus red	18	16q24
  	COPA		dominant red	3	-
  R roan/steel	KITLG/MGF	R, r	roan in cattle (R/r)	5	12q22
  	KIT	alleles not named	colored points	6q23	4q12

  Additional Color Loci Shown to Affect Coat Color in Other Species

  Locus Name	Gene	Action	Cattle	Human
  	MSH/POMC	melanocyte stimulating hormone	11	?
  slaty	TYRP2/DCT	greying in mice	12q23	13q32
  underwhite	MATP/SLC45A2	palamino in horse	20?	5p
  piebald	EDNRB	overo in horses	12q22	13q22-q31
  lethal spotting	EDN3		13	20q13
  patch	PDGFRA	belt in mice	6	4q
  microphthalmia-associated transcription factor	MITF	spotting in mice & dogs	22	3p12-14
  attractin	ATRN	mahogany in mice	6	20p13
  melanophilin	DEFB103 (DEFB300 or hBD3)	black and brindle in dogs	27	8

  General References

• Olson, T. A. and R. L. Willham. 1982. Inheritance of coat coloration and spotting patterns of cattle: a review. Research Bulletin 595, Ames, Iowa
• Schlapfer, J. et al. 2001. Assignment of six genes to bovine chromosome 13. J Animal Breeding Genetics 118:189-196
• Edeal, B et al. 2000. Rapid communication: Linkage mapping of the Mahogany (attractin) locus in cattle and pigs. J. Animal Science 78:2479-2480.

Articles in the Popular Press

Coat Color Uncoded. Cattlemen magazine, January 1999 issue. Sheila Schmutz.

Coat Color and Its Ramifications. Simmental Country, January 1999 issue. Sheila Schmutz.

Links to Other Coat Color Sites

• Genetics of Coat Colors in Dogs A related page by Sheila Schmutz including research from her lab
• Horse Coat Color Testing at UC Davis Listing of DNA Tests available for horse coat colors
• Genetics of Coat Colors in Cats A related page by Sheila Schmutz
• Coat Color Genes
• The Coat Colors of Mice by Willys K. Silver The complete text, with all tables and figures, is presented here courtesy of the informatics group at the Jackson Lab.
• A table of genes shown to affect coat color in mice. This table in linked to the book by Silvers above.

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  for further information contact:

  Sheila M. Schmutz, Ph.D., Professor

  Department of Animal and Poultry Science

  College of Agriculture and Bioresources

  University of Saskatchewan

  Saskatoon, Canada S7N 5A8

  e-mail sheila.schmutz@usask.ca

  back to Genes for Cowboys , Table of Contents Page

  back to Schmutz Genetics Research Main Page