Rabbit Color Genetics

1. Rabbit Color Genetics A simple guide to learning the basics

2. Why Learn Genetics? • Make informed decisions when choosing colors to breed together • Know what colors to expect in a litter • Know what genes a rabbit carries just by looking at the pedigree • Avoid producing unshowable colors • Avoid producing rabbits with “messy” genetics • Know how to manipulate genetics to produce desired colors • To be a more educated breeder

3. “Genetics don’t always work” • False. Rule #1: Genetics is science, not magic. • There are rules and every rabbit follows them • “Surprise” or “mystery” colors can be the result of several factors: • Incorrect pedigree • Identifying parents as the wrong color • Gene modifiers • Writing down the wrong sire

4. The Basics • There are 5 basic gene series, sometimes called “families” • A,B,C,D,E • Each rabbit has two genes (more appropriately called alleles but commonly referred to as genes) for each series • The first gene in each series is the dominant gene (what we see). • The second gene is the recessive (what we don’t see) • A rabbit receives one gene from each parent for each series.

5. Genotypes • A genotype is the genetic code for a rabbit’s color • Genotype is what we don’t see, phenotype is what we do see. • How do we write them? A B C D E (_ _) – (_ _) – (_ _) – (_ _) – (_ _) recessive dominant

6. Punnett Squares • A tool for calculating outcomes of crosses • Each result represents the possibility for each kit, not the whole litter

7. The Ladder of Dominance • To visualize how dominance works, use the ladder analogy. • Put the most dominant gene on the top rung and the most recessive on the bottom rung with any other genes in the middle in their respective position. • The rules: • A gene cannot carry a gene that is above it on the ladder. • It can carry one of the genes below or itself.

8. The A Series • Responsible for the pattern of the coat • There are three genes in the A Series: • A: Agouti • at: Tan Pattern • a: Self • Agouti is the most dominant, self is the most recessive, and tan pattern lies in between. A at a

9. The A Series: Agouti (A) • Agouti rabbits will have: • Ticking: tips on the hair shaft • Rings: when blowing into the coat, there will be rings of different colors. • Lacing: Cream or white markings on the chin, inside of legs, inside nostrils, around eyes, inside ear, and bottom of tail • Cream/white belly • Triangle: An orange, cream, or white triangle shape on the back of the neck

10. The A Series: Agouti (A) • Agouti is the most dominant gene in the A series • It can carry either itself, Tan Pattern, or Self. • The options for an Agouti rabbit: • AA • Aat • Aa

11. The A Series: Agouti (A) • Examples: • Chestnut, Opal, Lynx, Chinchilla, Squirrel, Frosted Pearl/Ermine, Orange, Cream, Fawn, Red, Steel, Tri-Color Chestnut Chinchilla Orange

12. The A Series: Tan Pattern (at) • Tan Pattern rabbits will have: • Self color on top (black, blue, chocolate, lilac, shaded, tort) • White, cream, or tan belly, lacing, and triangle. • Tan Pattern cannot carry Agouti. • It can carry itself or self • The options for a Tan Pattern rabbit: • at at • at a

13. The A Series: Tan Pattern (at) • Examples: • Otters, Silver Martens Black Otter Sable Marten

14. The A Series: Self (a) • A Self rabbit will: • Be a single color • May include shading • May have a lighter belly color • Never have agouti or tan pattern markings • Self is the most recessive gene in the A series • Self cannot carry any other gene • The options for a Self rabbit: • aa

15. The A Series: Self (a) • Examples: • Black, Blue, Chocolate, Lilac, Siamese Sable, Smoke Pearl, Sable Point, Blue Point, Seal, Tort, Himalayan, Ruby Eyed White, Blue Eyed White Black Tort Himalayan/Pointed White Smoke Pearl

16. The A Series • Every rabbit is one of the following combinations: • Agouti: AA, A at, Aa • Tan Pattern: at at, at a • Self: aa • That is a total of 6 options for every rabbit in the world!

17. The A Series: Calculating Outcomes • Breed an Agouti carrying Self to a Tan Pattern carrying Self. • Use a punnett square. What are the possibilities? • Remember, write the dominant gene first then the recessive

18. The A Series: Calculating Outcomes • Looking just at the dominant gene in each option: • 50% chance of Agouti • 25% chance of Tan Pattern • 25% chance of Self

19. The A Series: Calculating Outcomes • Breed a Self to a Self. • What do you notice? • 100% of the offspring are Self. • Rule #2: • When you breed two recessives together, you will yield 100% recessives.

20. Plugging it In • Time to plug in one of the outcomes to a genotype…let’s use Aa • Put the dominant gene on the first underscore, and the recessive on the second. (_ _) – (_ _) – (_ _) – (_ _) – (_ _) A B C D E A a

21. The B Series • Responsible for making a rabbit either Black-based or Chocolate-based • There are two genes in the B Series: • B: Black • b: Chocolate B b

22. The B Series: Black (B) • Black is the most dominant gene in the B series • It can carry either itself or chocolate • The options for a Black rabbit: • BB • Bb • Examples: • Chestnut, Opal, Chinchilla, Squirrel, Black Otter, Blue Silver Marten, Black, Blue, Black Tort, Siamese Sable, Smoke Pearl, Sable Point • Any “blue” rabbit is Black-based

23. The B Series: Chocolate (b) • Chocolate is the most recessive gene in the B series. • It cannot carry Black • The options for a Chocolate-based rabbit: • bb • Examples: • Lynx, Chocolate, Chocolate Tort, Chocolate Agouti (Amber/Cinnamon), Chocolate Otter • Any “lilac” rabbit is chocolate-based

24. The B Series • Every rabbit is one of the following combinations: • Black-based: BB, Bb • Chocolate-based: bb • That is a total of 3 options for every rabbit in the world! • Every Black-based color has a Chocolate-based counterpart or “version” • Ex: The Chocolate version of Opal is Lynx.

25. The B Series: Calculating Outcomes • Breed a Black carrying Chocolate to a Chocolate. • What do you notice? • 100% of the offspring carry Chocolate • Rule #3: • When you breed to the most recessive in the series, 100% of the offspring will carry that recessive.

26. Plugging it In • Time to plug in one of the outcomes to the previous genotype…let’s use Bb • Put the dominant gene on the first underscore, and the recessive on the second. (_ _) – (_ _) – (_ _) – (_ _) – (_ _) A B C D E A a B b So far we have a rabbit that is a: Black-based (B) Agouti (A) carrying self (a) and chocolate (b)

27. Color Options (so far) • If we take the options for the A series (6) and multiply them by the options for the B series (3), it equals a total of 18 genotype options for every rabbit in the world. • Or 6 color options for every rabbit: • A-B: Black-based Agouti, • A-bb: Chocolate Based Agouti • at-B: Black-based Tan Pattern • at-bb: Chocolate-based Tan Pattern • aa-B: Black-based Self • aa-bb: Chocolate-based Self

28. The C Series C • Responsible for the restriction of color pigment on the coat. • There are six genes in the C Series: • C: Full Color • cchd: Chinchilla (Dark) • cchm: Chinchilla Medium • cchl: Shaded (Chinchilla Light) • ch: Himalayan • c: Albino (Ruby-Eyed White/REW) cchd cchm cchl ch c

29. The C Series: Full Color (C) • The most dominant gene in the C series. • All four dark brown and all three yellow pigment bands are present in the fur. • The options for a Full Color rabbit: • CC • Ccchd • Ccchm • Ccchl • Cch • Cc • Examples: • Chestnut, Tort, Black, Orange, Steel, Harlequin

30. The C Series: Chinchilla (cchd) • All four dark brown pigment bands but only one yellow band. • Turns “yellow” pigment to white/silver • Also written as cch3 which is more correct • Can be written simply as chd. • The options for a Chinchilla rabbit: • cchdcchd • cchdcchm • cchdcchl • cchdch • cchdc • Examples: • Chinchilla, Squirrel, Ermine, Marten, Magpie

31. The C Series: Chinchilla Medium (cchm) • Reduction in brown pigment, no yellow pigment. • Also written as cch2 which is more correct • Can be written simply as chm. • Uncommon/rare, not preferred • The options for a Chinchilla Medium rabbit: • cchmcchm • cchmcchl • cchmch • cchmc • Examples: • Some Chinchillas

32. The C Series: Shaded (cchl) • Two brown pigment bands, no yellow pigment • Also written as cch1 which is more correct • Can be written simply as chl. • Commonly referred to as the Shaded gene but also “Chinchilla Light” • The options for a Shaded rabbit: • cchlcchl • cchlch • cchlc • Rule #4: All rabbits that are cchlcchl are automatically Seal • Rule #5:A true Sable rabbit must carry either Himalayan or REW ( cchlcch or cchlc) • Examples: • Siamese Sable, Sable Point, Smoke Pearl, Seal, Sable Marten

33. The C Series: Himalayan (ch) • Restricts color to only the points: ears, nose, feet, tail • Rabbits will always have red eyes • Can be written simply as ch. • The options for a Shaded rabbit: • chch • chc • Examples: • All varieties of Himalayan/Pointed White/Californian

34. The C Series: Albino (c) • Stops all color from being expressed • Solid White rabbits with red eyes • The options for an Albino rabbit: • cc

35. The C Series • Every rabbit is one of the following combinations: • CC • Ccchd • Ccchm • Ccchl • Cch • Cc • cchdcchd • cchdcchm • cchdcchl • cchdch • cchdc • cchmcchm • cchmcchl • cchmch • cchmc • cchlcchl • cchlch • cchlc • chch • chc • cc Chinchilla Medium Full Color Shaded Himi Chinchilla

36. The C Series: Calculating Outcomes • Breed a Full Color carrying Chinchilla to a Chinchilla carrying REW. • Looking just at the dominant gene in each option: • 50% chance Full Color • 50% chance of Chinchilla • Looking just at the recessive gene in each option: • 50% Chinchilla carriers • 50% REW carriers

37. The C Series: Calculating Outcomes • Breed a Shaded carrying Shaded to a Shaded carrying REW. • What do you notice?: • 50% chance of Seal (rule #4) • Looking just at the recessive gene in each option: • 50% REW carriers

38. Plugging it In • Time to plug in one of the outcomes to the previous genotype…let’s use cchdc • Put the dominant gene on the first underscore, and the recessive on the second. (_ _) – (_ _) – (__ _) – (_ _) – (_ _) A B C D E A a B b cchd c So far we have a rabbit that is a: Black-based (B) Chinchilla Agouti (cchd, A) carrying self (a),chocolate (b), and REW (c)

39. Color Options (so far) • If we take the options for the A series (6) and multiply them by the options for the B series (3) and C Series (21), it equals a total of 378 genotype options for every rabbit in the world! • Or 36 color options for every rabbit: • A-B-C: Black-based Agouti • A-bb-C: Chocolate-based Agouti • at-B-C: Black-based Otter • at-bb-C: Chocolate-based Otter • aa-B-C: Black-based Self • aa-bb-C: Chocolate-based Self • A-B-cchd: Black-based Chinchilla Agouti, • A-bb-cchd: Chocolate-based Chinchilla Agouti • at-B-cchd: Black-based Marten • at-bb-cchd: Chocolate-based Marten • aa-B-cchd: Black-based Self Chinchilla • aa-bb-cchd: Chocolate-based Self Chinchilla • A-B-cchm: Black-based Chinchilla Agouti • A-bb-cchm: Chocolate-based Chinchilla Agouti • at-B-cchm: Black-based Marten • at-bb-cchm: Chocolate-based Marten • aa-B-cchm: Black-based Self Chinchilla • aa-bb-cchm: Chocolate-based Self Chinchilla • A-B-cchl: Black-based Shaded Agouti • A-bb-cchl: Chocolate-based Shaded Agouti • at-B-cchl: Black-based Shaded Marten • at-bb-cchl: Chocolate-based Shaded Marten • aa-B-cchl: Black-based Shaded • aa-bb-cchl: Chocolate-based Shaded • A-B-ch: Black-based Himalayan Agouti • A-bb-ch: Chocolate-based Himalayan Agouti • at-B-ch: Black-based Martenized Himalayan • at-bb-ch: Chocolate-based Martenized Himalayan • aa-B-ch: Black-based Himalayan • aa-bb-ch: Chocolate-based Himalayan • A-B-cc: Black-based Agouti REW • A-bb-cc: Chocolate-based Agouti REW • at-B-cc: Black-based Otter REW • at-bb-cc: Chocolate-based Otter REW • aa-B-cc: Black-based Self REW • aa-bb-cc: Chocolate-based Self REW

40. The D Series • Responsible for diluting the color • There are two genes in the B Series: • D: Dense • d: Dilute D d

41. The D Series: Dense (D) • Dense is the most dominant gene in the D series • It can carry either itself or dilute • The options for a Dense rabbit: • DD • Dd • Examples: • Chestnut, Black, Siamese Sable, Chinchilla, Chocolate Otter • Any Black-based or Chocolate-based rabbit is Dense

42. The D Series: Dilute (d) • Dilute is the most recessive gene in the D series. • It cannot carry Dense • The options for a dilute rabbit: • dd • Examples: • Opal, Cream/Fawn, Smoke Pearl, Squirrel, Blue, Lynx, Lilac Tort • Any blue-based or lilac-based rabbit is dilute

43. The D Series • Every rabbit is one of the following combinations: • Dense: DD, Dd • Dilute: dd • Black (B) + Dilute (dd) = Blue-based • Chocolate (bb) + Dilute (dd) = Lilac-based • Every Dense color has a Dilute counterpart or “version • Ex: The dilute version of Chestnut is Opal

44. The D Series: Calculating Outcomes • Breed a Dense carrying Dilute to a Dilute. • What do you notice? • 100% of the offspring carry dilute • Rule #3applies

45. Plugging it In • Time to plug in one of the outcomes to the previous genotype…let’s use dd (_ _) – (_ _) – (__ _) – (_ _) – (_ _) A a B b cchd c d d So far we have a rabbit that is a: Blue-based (B, dd) Chinchilla Agouti (cchd, A) carrying self (a),chocolate (b), and REW (c) A B C D E

46. Color Options (so far) • If we take the options for the A series (6) and multiply them by the options for the B series (3), C Series (21), and D Series (3) it equals a total of 1134 genotype options for every rabbit in the world! • Or 72 color options for every rabbit! • Dense options: (feel free to skip the next two slides, they’re for fun!) • A-B-C-D: Black-based Agouti • A-bb-C-D: Chocolate-based Agouti • at-B-C-D: Black-based Otter • at-bb-C-D: Chocolate-based Otter • aa-B-C-D: Black-based Self • aa-bb-C-D: Chocolate-based Self • A-B-cchd-D: Black-based Chinchilla Agouti, • A-bb-cchd-D: Chocolate-based Chinchilla Agouti • at-B-cchd-D: Black-based Marten • at-bb-cchd-D: Chocolate-based Marten • aa-B-cchd-D: Black-based Self Chinchilla • aa-bb-cchd-D: Chocolate-based Self Chinchilla • A-B-cchm-D: Black-based Chinchilla Agouti • A-bb-cchm-D: Chocolate-based Chinchilla Agouti • at-B-cchm-D: Black-based Marten • at-bb-cchm-D: Chocolate-based Marten • aa-B-cchm-D: Black-based Self Chinchilla • aa-bb-cchm-D: Chocolate-based Self Chinchilla • A-B-cchl-D: Black-based Shaded Agouti • A-bb-cchl-D: Chocolate-based Shaded Agouti • at-B-cchl-D: Black-based Shaded Marten • at-bb-cchl-D: Chocolate-based Shaded Marten • aa-B-cchl-D: Black-based Shaded • aa-bb-cchl-D: Chocolate-based Shaded • A-B-ch-D: Black-based Himalayan Agouti • A-bb-ch-D: Chocolate-based Himalayan Agouti • at-B-ch-D: Black-based Martenized Himalayan • at-bb-ch-D: Chocolate-based Martenized Himalayan • aa-B-ch-D: Black-based Himalayan • aa-bb-ch-D: Chocolate-based Himalayan • A-B-cc-D: Black-based Agouti REW • A-bb-cc-D: Chocolate-based Agouti REW • at-B-cc-D: Black-based Otter REW • at-bb-cc-D: Chocolate-based Otter REW • aa-B-cc-D: Black-based Self REW • aa-bb-cc-D: Chocolate-based Self REW

47. Color Options (so far) • Dilute Options: • A-B-C-dd: Blue-based Agouti • A-bb-C-dd: Lilac-based Agouti • at-B-C-dd: Blue-based Otter • at-bb-C-dd: Lilac-based Otter • aa-B-C-dd: Black-based Self • aa-bb-C-dd: Lilac-based Self • A-B-cchd-dd: Blue-based Chinchilla Agouti, • A-bb-cchd-dd: Lilac-based Chinchilla Agouti • at-B-cchd-dd: Black-based Marten • at-bb-cchd-dd: Lilac-based Marten • aa-B-cchd-dd: Blue-based Self Chinchilla • aa-bb-cchd-dd: Lilac-based Self Chinchilla • A-B-cchm-dd: Blue-based Chinchilla Agouti • A-bb-cchm-dd: Lilac-based Chinchilla Agouti • at-B-cchm-dd: Blue-based Marten • at-bb-cchm-dd: Lilac-based Marten • aa-B-cchm-dd: Blue-based Self Chinchilla • aa-bb-cchm-dd: Lilac-based Self Chinchilla • A-B-cchl-dd: Blue-based Shaded Agouti • A-bb-cchl-dd: Lilac-based Shaded Agouti • at-B-cchl-dd: Blue-based Shaded Marten • at-bb-cchl-dd: Lilac-based Shaded Marten • aa-B-cchl-dd: Blue-based Shaded • aa-bb-cchl-dd: Lilac-based Shaded • A-B-ch-dd: Blue-based Himalayan Agouti • A-bb-ch-dd: Lilac-based Himalayan Agouti • at-B-ch-dd: Blue-based Martenized Himalayan • at-bb-ch-dd: Lilac-based Martenized Himalayan • aa-B-ch-dd: Blue-based Himalayan • aa-bb-ch-dd: Lilac-based Himalayan • A-B-cc-dd: Blue-based Agouti REW • A-bb-cc-dd: Lilac-based Agouti REW • at-B-cc-dd: Blue-based Otter REW • at-bb-cc-dd: Lilac-based Otter REW • aa-B-cc-dd: Blue-based Self REW • aa-bb-cc-dd: Lilac-based Self REW

48. The E Series Ed • Responsible for the extension of color pigment on the coat. • There are five genes in the C Series: • Ed: Dark Extension • Es: Steel • E: Full Extension • ej: Harlequin • e: Non-Extension Es E ej e

49. The E Series: Dark Extension (Ed) • The most dominant gene in the E Series. • Very rare and not much known about this gene, however, there is evidence it does exist. • Extends the color so much that it can make a Chestnut look Black. • Found in Havanas and English Spots • The options for a Dark Extension rabbit: • EdEd • EdEs • EdE • Edej • Ede

50. The E Series: Steel (Es) • Covers the middle band of color in Agoutis and leaves ticking • The options for a Steel rabbit: • EsEs • EsE • Es ej • Ese • Examples: • Gold Tipped Steel, Sable Steel, Silver Tipped Steel