Advances in Llama (Llama glama) Coat Color Genetics

ANELLO M; VIDAL RIOJA L; DAVERIO M S; DI ROCCO F

Advances in Fibre Production Science in South American Camelids and other Fibre Animals

Universitätsverlag Göttingen

Año: 2019; p. 57 - 61

Domestic species present a wide phenotypic diversity. As their genomicsequences become available, finding the connection between the genotype and theobserved phenotype is a goal possible to achieve. In several species, the genes andmutations responsible for the different coat colors and patterns have already beenidentified. Color is a Mendelian trait, with little or no environmental influence. Moreover,the biochemical pathway of pigment synthesis is well-known and highly conserved amongmammals. Thus, in species such as llama whose complete genome has not yet beensequenced, the study of candidate genes results a valid alternative to identify the geneticvariation responsible for different phenotypes. The objective of this work is to present therecent advances in the knowledge of the genes that control the coat color in llamas andcompare our results with those published for alpaca.