Research overview: the developmental genetics of tabby coat patterns

The tabby patterns of cats, mackerel stripes versus blotched swirls, arise from the interaction of genes that establish a prepattern in the developing skin and then translate it into dark and light hair. This overview surveys the discovery that the transmembrane aminopeptidase gene Taqpep controls the stripe-versus-blotch distinction and that the secreted molecule Edn3 amplifies the contrast between pattern elements. It connects these findings to a broader model of periodic patterning in mammalian skin, explains how the same genes underlie the king cheetah's blotches, and discusses how studying domestic cats illuminates a general developmental question about how animals paint their coats.