Research overview: a survey of coat-color and pattern genes in cats

Decades of feline genetics have assembled a catalog of genes controlling color, pattern, and hair properties in cats, including agouti, melanocortin-1 receptor, the brown locus, dilution, dominant white and spotting, the colorpoint series, and the tabby pattern genes. This overview synthesizes how these loci interact to produce the enormous diversity of domestic-cat coats and how several map onto traits seen in wild felids. It discusses the value of the cat as a model for mammalian pigmentation, the role of breeders' pedigrees in gene mapping, and the way coat-color genetics links developmental biology, evolution, and the practical world of cat fancy.