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AGOUTI - Ticked or banded hairs; the agouti hairs are also found around tabby markings, making the tabby pattern is visible to the eye. (A/-)  

ALLELE - One member of a pair or a series of genes that can occur at a particular locus on homologous chromosomes. (C/-, cb/cb)  

ALTER - A cat that has been neutered (male) or spayed (female).  

APERTURE - Eye opening.  

ANEUPLOID CAT - A cat that deviates from the normal number of chromosomes characteristic of felines.  

AUTOSOME - Any chromosome except a sex chromosome (the latter usually designated as X or Y).  

AUTOSOMAL - Refers to genes and chromosomal segments that are located on autosomes.  

BALANCE - All the parts are in proportion according to the cat's breed standard.  

BACK CROSS - Cross of a heterozygous cat with one of its homozygous parents.  In a double back cross, two heterozygous gene loci are involved.  

BARRING - Tabby-striped markings.  

BI-COLOR PATTERN - A cat which has a colored head, back, and tail with white on legs,  
feet, underside, and lower flanks. A white blaze such as the inverted "V" pattern is often seen.  
Various markings of white and pigment may occur, but the cat is generally 1/3 to 2/3 white.  

BLAZE - A marking down the center of the forehead.  

BLACK - Black color, with sound color from roots to tip of fur. (B/-, D/-)  

BLUE - Even (gray) blue, lighter shades preferred. Paw pads and nose leather to be slate gray.  (B/-, d/d)  

BREAK - A right angle indentation of the nose below the bridge and between the eyes. The most extreme form of a change of direction. Persian are an example of cats having a break.  

BREAKPOINT - Site of a break in a chromosomal alteration, e.g., translocation, inversion, or deletion.  

BREECHES - Britches, an area of the legs.  

BRIDGE - The upper bony ridge of the nose.  

CALICO - Tortoiseshell and white. (XB/XR/, + white spotting factor). Tortoiseshell and white, blue tortie and white, chocolate tortie and white, cinnamon tortie and white, lilac tortie and white, fawn tortie and white.  

CARRIER - A heterozygous individual, is said to be carrying, for instance, a recessive gene. (A/a)  

CAT BOX - A regulatory DNA sequence in a region of eukaryotic genes; transcription factors bind to this sequence.  

CHIMERA - A cat or tissue that consists of cells of different genotypes of pre zygotic origin.  

CHOCOLATE - Rich shade of medium to dark chocolate brown. Chestnut brown, medium to dark chocolate brown; milk chocolate or coffee bean brown. (b/b, D/-)  

CHROMOSOME - The minute rod like structures in the nucleus of a cell that controls inherited characteristic. The physical sites of nuclear genes, which are arranged in linear order. Each species has a characteristic number of chromosomes.  

CLASSIC TABBY - A tabby pattern of made up of blotches and swirls highlighted by a "bulls-eye" on each side of the body. The cat should show good contrast between the pale ground color and the dense, dark markings. The head should be barred with frown marks, "M" pattern, extending between the ears and down the back of the neck to meet the "butterfly" on the shoulders, which divides the head lines from the spine lines. The spine lines are the wide, distinct stripes of the darker marking color divided by stripes of the paler ground color and they run from the butterfly to the tail. The swirl on the side of the body should be an unbroken circle centered with a spot of marking color completely surrounded by ground color. Legs should be evenly barred with bracelets coming to meet the body markings.The neck should have several unbroken necklaces. The tail should be evenly ringed.  The underside of the body should have rows of dark spots called "vest buttons." (A/-, tb/tb)  

COAT COMPOSITION - There are three main types of hair that makeup the normal coat; guard hairs, bristle or awn hairs, and down or wool hairs.  In Persians, all three layers are the same length and can grow 4 to 6 inches long.  

COBBY - Having a short, compact body, with broad shoulders and rump. Usually goes along with a short tail and a large, rounded head, as in the Persian, Himalayan, Exotic Short or British Short hair.  

CONDITION - Referring to the state of being of the cat, i.e. health, both mental and physical. Proper weight, overall health and grooming are considerations.  

CONFORMATION - The particular form of a cat, made up of the size and shape of a breed. Also called type.  

CREAM - A buff cream color; the paler the better. (d/d, XR/XR)  
   
DAM - Mother.  

DELETION - Loss of part of or a whole chromosome or loss of oDNA nucleotide bases.  

DILUTE - A paler version of a basic color, such as blue, fawn, frost or cream. The dense  
pigmentation Maltese: black = blue, chocolate = lilac, cinnamon = fawn, red = cream. (d/d)  

DILUTE CALICO - Any of the tortoiseshell colors maltesed; the eumelanistic and  
phaeomelanistic colors maltesed. Blue and Cream, Fawn and Cream, Lilac and Cream. Blue Torties, Fawn Torties, Lilac Torties plus white.  

DOMAIN - A distinctive region of the tertiary structure of a protein or a particular region of a chromosome.  

DOME - The forehead is well rounded or domed out.  

DOMESTIC TYPE - Heavier boned, as in the American Short hair, as opposed to the  
"oriental type" of the fine-boned Siamese.  

DOMINANCE - The situation in which one member of a pair of allelic genes expresses itself in whole (complete dominance) or in part (incomplete dominance) over the other member. (A/a)  

DOMINANT - An adjective applied to that member of a pair of alleles which expresses itself in heterozygotes to the complete exclusion of the other member of the pair. The term is also applicable to the trait produced by a dominant gene. (A/a)  

DOMINANT WHITE - White is the absence of color, the action of the Dominant White gene. (W/-)  

DOUBLE COAT - Having a thick undercoat with another top, thick coat of longer hairs. The awn hairs are the same length as the guard hairs.  

DOUBLE RECESSIVE - An individual possessing two pairs of recessive genes. (b/b, d/d)  

DOWN HAIRS - Soft, crimped, secondary hairs.  

EAR FURNISHINGS - Growth of hair extending horizontally from the ear.  

ENHANCE - A regulatory DNA segment that contains binding cites for transcription factors.  It causes a tenfold increase in the rate of transcription.  

EPISTASIS OR MASKING - The masking of the phenotypic effect of either or both  
members of one pair of alleles by a gene of a different pair. The masked gene is said to be hypostatic.  

EUPLOID CAT - Refers to a cat with the complete normal chromosomal complement characteristic of felines.  

EUMELANIN - The black - brown based colors. (B/-, b/b, bl/bl)  

EXCISION REPAIR - Repair of bulk lesions in DNA in which a stretch of nucleotides is excised from the affected strand and replaced by the normal sequence (resynthesis).  

EXPRESSION - The observable effects of an active gene.  

EXPRESSIVITY - Refers to the degree of phenotypic expression of a gene or genotype.  Absence of expressivity is also called nonpenetrance.  

FOREHEAD - The part of the face between the top of the eyes and the bottom of the ears.  

FULL - Containing all that is normal or possible; complete; of maximum or highest degree. Rounded in shape. Of generous proportions; wide. Having depth and body. The maximum or complete size or development.  

GENE - A particular segment of a DNA molecule that constitutes a single unit of hereditary material that determines each hereditary trait.  

GENE POOL - The total of all genes in a feline population.  

GENE CONVERSION - Interaction of alleles that leads to unequal genetic exchange during meiosis.  Refers to a process of non reciprocal transfer of genetic information.  One gene serves as a sequence donor, remaining unaffected, while the other gene receives sequences and undergoes variation.  

GENE DOSAGE - Refers to the quantitative degree of expression of a gene.  

GENE FLOW - Transfer of a gene from one population of cats to another.  

GENETIC DRIFT - Random changes in gene frequency of a population.  Under some conditions an allele may disappear from a population, or be present in all individuals of a population (fixation).  

GENOME - All the genetic material of a cell or of an individual.  

GENOTYPE - The genetic make-up or constitution of a cat, with reference to the traits  
under consideration.  

GLOVES - Referring to the white on the front feet.  

GHOST MARKINGS - Faint tabby markings seen in some solid colored cats, especially  
when young. These markings are not penalized in young kittens and are often allowed in young cats.  

GROUND COLOR - The area of color on the lower part of the hair shaft; also the agouti area between the tabby pattern.  

HARLEQUIN - One of the most extreme expression of the White Spotting factor. Color is  
limited to the extremities of the cat; several small patches of color are allowed.  

HEAD (Persian) - The head should be round and massive with great breadth of skull. The face should be round with a sweet expression and round underlying bone structure. The jaws are to be broad and powerful, with full, prominent cheeks and perfect tooth occlusion. The short nose should be almost as broad as long, with a definite break between the eyes. The eyes should be large, round and wide-set. They should be expressive with eye color conforming to the coat color.  

HEMIZYGOUS - Refers to genes and gene loci that are present in only one copy in the cat.  One the single X chromosome of the male, or because the homologous locus has been lost.  

HETEROZYGOUS - Having dissimilar genes received from each parent, of a given allelic pair or series, for a particular characteristic. (A/a)  

HERITABILITY - The ratio of additive genetic variance to the total phenotypic variance.  Phenotypic variance is the result of the interaction of genetic and non genetic factors in a population.  

HOMOLOGOUS CHROMOSOMES - Chromosomes occurring in pairs, one from each  
parent, at the same locus on the chromosome.  

HOMOZYGOUS - Having an identical pair of alleles for a particular characteristic. (A/A, a/a).  

HOOD - Mask (color) extending to the base of the ear forming a hood of color; i.e. no contrast on head.  

INBREEDING - Cats are bred within the immediate family of closely related cats to their  
parents, parents to off spring or brother to sister. Inbreeding must be done with great caution and knowledge of genetics.  

INBREEDING COEFFICIENT - Measures the probably that two alleles at a gene locus of the cat are identical by descent, i.e., that they are copies of a single allele of an ancestor common to both parents.  

INCIDENCE - The rate of occurrence of a disease in a population.  In contrast, prevalence is the percentage of a population that is affected with a particular disease at a particular time.  

INCOMPLETE DOMINANCE  - The condition in heterozygotes where the phenotype is intermediate between the two homozygotes. (L/L = short hair, l/l = longhair; L/l could produce medium long or medium short hair.)  The piebald form of white spotting is an excellent example of incomplete dominance.  

INHIBITOR GENE - The dominant inhibitor gene (I) is believed to suppress the development of pigment in the hair of the coat.  It has a wide variation of expression.  It is responsible for silver (A-I-), chinchilla, and smoke (non-agouti example)  (aal-) coloration.  

INVERSION - Structural alteration of a chromosome through a break at two sites with reversal of direction of the intermediate segment and reattachment.  

INVERTED REPEAT - Two identical, oppositely oriented copies of the same DNA sequence.  

LACES - White on back feet.  

LETHAL GENE - A gene whose phenotypic effect is sufficiently drastic to kill the bearer. Death from different lethal genes may occur at any time, from fertilization of the egg to advanced age. Lethal genes may be dominant, incompletely dominant, or recessive.  

LINKAGE - The occurrence of different genes on the same chromosome that are inherited together.  

LOCKET - A small area of white or color that is different from the desired body color.  

MACKEREL TABBY - A pattern of tabby markings that resembles the rib bones of a fish.  Stripes running in a fish-bone pattern, with no bulls-eyes" or blotches. The sides of the mackerel tabby should be evenly barred with vertical unbroken lines of marking color. Spine lines run together to form a narrow saddle. The head is barred with frown marks extending between ears and down back of neck to meet the spine lines. Legs should be evenly barred with bracelets coming to meet the body markings; front of neck should have at least one complete necklace, and the tail should be evenly marked with rings.  All tabbies have the letter "M" on their forehead.  (A/-, T/-)  

MALTING - Also referred to as dilution (d/d). The clustering of pigment granules in the hair shaft.  

MALOCCLUSION - Faulty closing or meeting of the upper and lower teeth.  

MASK - Darker color covers the face, including whisker pads and may be connected to the ears by tracings.  

MELANIN - The main pigment that gives color to the skin and hair. Melanin produces eumelanin and phaeomelanin.  

MITTED PATTERN - A predominantly colored cat with white limited to paws, back legs, belly, chest, and chin in most specimens. Cat is about 1/4 white.  

MODIFIERS - Poly genes that change the effect of a major gene.  

MOSAIC - Tissue or cats made up of  genetically different cells, as a rule the same zygotic origin (compare with Chimera)  

MULTIPLE ALLELES - A series of three or more alternative alleles, any one of which may occur at a particular locus on a chromosome.  

MUTATION - A sudden change in genotype have no relation to the individual's ancestry.  

MUZZLE - The projecting part of the head to include jaws, chin, mouth and nose.  

MUZZLE BREAK - Indentation where the muzzle is attached to the skull; whisker break.  

NECKLACE - Tabby markings in the neck area.  

NON-AGOUTI - The non-agouti gene inactivates the formation of yellow banding; the hairs are not banded but of one solid color; the solid or self colors and tortie colors. Red is inoperative on the non-agouti; non-agouti can only work in conjunction with eumelanin; there is no phaeomelanin synthesis. (a/a)  

OVERSHOT - Having an upper part projecting beyond the lower as in an overshot jaw.  

PATCHING - Clearly defined patches of color in the coat, as seen in torties and particolors (color/pattern + white).  

PARTI-COLORS - Cats which exhibit the white spotting factor, regardless of the amount of white (except for lockets) or the basic background color.  

PEDIGREE - A chart showing the ancestral history of a particular cat.  

PHAEOMELANIN - The red - yellow based colors. Sex linked. (XR/XR) or ( O/O)  

PHENOTYPE - The outward appearance of an individual cat which is dependent upon its genetic make-up.  

PIE BALD WHITE SPOTTING GENE - Prevents migration of pigment cells, prevents formation of pigment in areas on the cat, thus forming areas of white surrounding pigment. The gene causes premature melanocyte death.  

POINT MUTATION:  Alteration of the genetic code within a single codon.  There are two main types.  
    1.  Transition - the exchange of a base; a pyrimidine for another pyrimidine (or a purine for a purine)  
    2.  Transversion - the exchange of a pyrimidine for a purine or visa-versa, (thymine for cytosine, or adenine for guanine)  
    3.  Besides the two types of exchange, a point mutation may be due to the insertion of a nucleotide base or the deletion of one or several pairs of bases.  

POLYGENES - Two or more different pairs of alleles, with a presumed cumulative effect, governing such quantitative traits as size, pigmentation, intelligence. A small group of genes, when working together, can produce bodily characteristics.  

POLYGENIC - Refers to traits that are based on several or numerous genes whose effects cannot be individually determined.  The term multigenic is sometimes used instead.  

PROVEN FEMALE - A female cat that has successfully had a litter of kittens.  Proven females are worth more than unproven females to if the cats are of equal physical quality.  

PROVEN MALE - A stud that has successfully mated and impregnated a female.  

PUG NOSE - Snub nose, an upturned nose.  

QUEEN - A mother cat.  

RECESSIVE - An adjective applied to that member of a pair of genes which fails to express itself in the presence of its dominant allele. The term is also applicable to the trait produced by a recessive gene. Recessive genes express themselves ordinarily only in the homozygous state. (a/a)  

RED - Deep, rich, clear orange-red. In TICA red and cream cats are shown phenotypically and registered genotypically. (XR/XR) or (OO/OO )  
   
SIRE - Father.  

STANDARD - The established standard or "perfect" example of what a cat of each breed should look like.  CFA, TICA, and ACFA, all have established written standards for each breed that each cat is measured against in the Show Hall.  

STOP - A change in direction, the short incline between the forepart of the skull and the muzzle. Concave curve occurring in the nose at eye or just below eye level; may be very slight or pronounced.  

STUD - A male cat chosen to impregnate a group of females, the stud should be as close to the breeding standard as possible.  The stud male is the most important member of the cattery.  He sires many more kittens than any one queen could ever produce.  Also, studies have shown that kittens inherit their temperament from their fathers.  The choice you make for a stud cat can make the difference between having a successful breeding program or disaster!  

STURDY - Stocky, solidly built, thick set.  

TABBY - Tabby Pattern is made up of two factors, the tabby pattern + the agouti area (ticked area) between the tabby pattern. Tabby Patterns: Ticked Tabby, Mackerel Tabby, Spotted Tabby and the Classic Tabby.  

TICKED - Three or four separate bands of color on each hair shaft, as on the Abyssinian.  

TICKED TABBY - Mackerel Tabby. Ticking of the body hair with various shades of the marking color and ground color, with the outer tipping the darkest and undercoat of the ground color. Body may exhibit a barely perceptible fine pattern resulting in a delicate tweed effect, but distinct stripes, spots or blotches shall be considered a fault. The tail, legs, and face will have tabby pencilings. Necklace tracings are also seen in a well-marked specimen. (Ta/-)  

TORBIE - Usually a female cat (male torbies rare), a tortoiseshell turned tabby where as the black patches will be tabbied forming a continuous pattern with the red patches (tabby pattern). To determine if a cat is a tortie or torbie: tortie = eumelanistic patches will be solid; torbie = eumelanistic patches will be tabbied. Also called Patched Tabby or Tabby Tortie. (A/-, XB/XR, [T-]  

TORTOISESHELL - The sex-linked orange gene (O) is responsible to the tortoiseshell pattern.  It comes from the X chromosome of the mother cat.  Since a male cat has only one X chromosome, they can be either red (O) or non-red (o).  Since the female has two X chromosomes, she can be OO (red) Oo (tortoiseshell), or oo (non-red).  

TRANSDUCTION - Transfer of genes from one cell to another (bacteria) by special viruses, the bacteriophages.  

TRANSFECTION - Introduction of pure DNA into a living cell.  

TRANSFORMATION - A change of genetic attributes of a cell by transfer of genetic information.  

TRANSLOCATION - A DNA sequence with the ability to move and become inserted at a new location of the genome.  

TRISOMY - An extra chromosome, in addition to a homologous pair of chromosomes.  

TUFTS - Cluster of hair growing close together.  

TYPE - Conformation, the general form, structure.  

UNDERCOAT - The wooly or down hairs under the longer guard hairs.  

UNDERCOLOR - The part of the hair shaft closest to the skin, in a smoke, the unpigmented portion of the hair shaft, in tabbies, the ground color.  

UNDERSHOT - Projecting from below.  

VAN PATTERN - Considered to be the most extreme expression of the White Spotting factor. Color is restricted to the head and tail. One or two small body patches of color may be allowed.  

VECTOR - A molecule that can incorporate and transfer DNA.