From the orange tabby Garfield to the ‘alien species’ Goose in Captain Marvel, we have seen quite a bunch of orange cats, who are uber cool and have loving purr-sonalities. Ever wondered what gives these beauties their signature orange fur? Their personalities aside, the orange cats have a unique beauty of their own. Well, the reason behind their car has been a mystery for more than 60 years, but not anymore!
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The researchers from Stanford University and Kyushu University have unraveled the mystery behind this puzzle. They wanted to find out how the orange cats are mostly male. For years, scientists have wondered about the genetics behind cat coat colours, particularly the orange hues present in gingers, calicos, and tortoiseshells. Interestingly, most of the orange cats are male, while calico and tortoiseshell cats are almost always female. If you thought it was barely a coincidence, it’s not. It’s because of the genetics linked with the X chromosome.
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Geneticist Greg Barsh from Stanford University explains that the reason is a genetic mystery, a conundrum. However, along with the independent findings of Hiroyuki Sasaki from Kyushu University, the researchers were able to crack the mystery.
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According to the study published on the preprint server bioRxiv, the orange colour is caused due to the overexpression of the Arhgap36 gene in melanocytes due to a 5-kilobase deletion. This disrupts the protein kinase A (PKA) pathway, which typically regulates pigment production. As a result, instead of synthesizing darker eumelanin pigments, affected cats produce yellowish-red pheomelanin pigments. Researchers also discovered that Arhgap36 expression is exclusive to the melanocytes of orange cats and is absent in non-orange cats.
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The breakthrough discovery happened when the researchers found out that the orange cats produced 13 times more RNA from the Arhgap36 gene compared to non-orange cats. Interestingly, this was due to a small deletion in a nearby DNA segment, which regulates the gene’s activity. They examined 188 cat genomes, and guess what? All the orange, calico, and tortoiseshell cats shared this exact genetic mutation! In female cats, this gene undergoes, X inactivation, a process where the cells randomly choose which X chromosome to express, causing the patchwork of colours in calico and tortoiseshell cats.
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