Module 8: My dogs!?

 I decided to stray away this week from the normal reflection prompts. So I decided to talk about epistasis because I get to discuss one of my favorite things: Labrador Retrievers. Here are mine:)

In module 8 we discussed epistasis. Epistasis is when the ability for a gene to be expressed is dependent on the action of another gene that modifies it. The book give the examples of labs in how they can come in many different colors. This is because different loci affect different portions of what is seen phenotypically. One loci will affect what the color pigment is. While another may affect the ability of the organism to put that pigment in a relevant tissue to show the color. My dogs are from the same litter. Their mom was a yellow lab and their dad was a brown (chocolate) lab. As you can see my dogs are black and a reddish color. It has always really interested me on how labs can come in such a variety and look so different from their litter mates.

From a post made by Cornell University about epistasis in Labradors I found out some more information on how this works. Labradors do something called masking epistasis. This is when one gene at one locus will completely cover up the effect of another gene at a different locus. Labs exhibit recessive masking epistasis. This is because the yellow fur color is homozygous recessive but when present completely masks out any other colors. Now that I am thinking through this it makes so much more sense because my first lab was a yellow lab and when we got her all of her litter mates were the same color while these two from a different set of parents were not!

I realize now that I have written this post it does not really connect back to evolution as much as it probably should. BUT, how can I pass up a chance to talk about my dogs!? I guess one question I have is what is the advantage of qualitative traits in the natural environment and not in the dog breeding world?

Comments

  1. Kaitlyn ChappelOctober 22, 2021 at 5:18 PM

    First off, Kate, I LOVE your dogs and I ask that when you see them next please give them a treat for me. Second, I really like that you found something that we discussed in this class and used it to talk about something in your life. I truly believe that finding something in your day to day life to help explain a concept for any class helps so much. I remember learning about epistasis in one of the many science classes that I have taken but it helps to visualize how it works. Thank you for writing about your dogs and connecting it to evolution!

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