Allele

Common

name

Description/Explanation

A

A

Agouti or Wild Type. Hairs are black banded with yellow and brown. Slightly lighter on the belly than on the back.

A^vy

Viable Yellow. Homozygotes and Heterozygotes show much variation ranging from a clear yellow, to some brownish mottling, to agouti coloration. Their coats are more like the coat of an a/a mouse than agouti. More homozygotes than heterozygotes are clear yellow. This phenotype effects the amount of white in spotted varieties, usually resulting in less white than other varieties. Both homozygotes and heterozygotes tend to become obese, and this is directly related to the amount of yellow in their coat.

A^w

White Bellied Agouti. These mice are like normal agouti mice except that they have a white or cream colored belly. Mutations to this particular phenotype are not uncommon.

A^y

Yellow. In heterozygotes the hair is yellow, and the eyes are black. Homozygotes are not viable and die before implantation.

a

Nonagouti. This allele removes the banding affect of the agouti gene, leaving the hairs all one color.

a^e

Extreme Nonagouti. This allele removes all other colors leaving the mouse a more deep pure black color.

a^t

Black and tan. In this mutation the back is black, and the belly is cream or tan colored. This particular allele is dominant on the belly of the mouse, while it is recessive on the back of the mouse.

Tyrp1^b

b

Brown. This gene dilutes the black of the mouse hairs into brown.

bt

bt

Belted. Homozygotes have a white belt around the back and a belly spot, both of which sometimes meet to create a belt around the mouse.

Tyr^c

c

Pink Eyed White (PEW). Hair and eyes are completely devoid of pigment. Homozygotes do not perform well on mouse intelligence tests, but this is surmised to be a fault of the lack of pigment in the retina, causing the mouse to have poor vision.

Tyr^c-a

c^a

Acromelanic. This is fully recessive to wild-type genes, but dominant over c. Homozygotes are distinguishable from albino at birth due to the pigmentation of the eyes. They have pigmented eyes, ears, tail and anal region. Unlike the himalayan variety, they do not have pigmented noses.

Tyr^c-ch

c^ch

Chinchilla. The chinchilla gene reduces the yellow in agouti coloration, and slightly reduces the black, giving agouti mice a silver coloration.

Tyr^c-e

c^e

Extreme Dilution. Hair is very light gray and eyes are black. When crossed with c, the resulting offspring are almost white with black eyes.

Tyr^c-h

c^h

Himalayan. In homozygotes, called siamese, the first coat of hair is a uniform tan color. After the first molt, the ears, nose, tail and scrotum become dark like a siamese cat. Eyes are slightly pigmented and appear red. Pigmentation is dependant on temperature. Mice raised in 15 degrees celcius will show more pigmentation than mice raised in 30 degrees celsius. When crossed with the c gene, the mice are called himalayan and have near white bodies with only dark points.

Ca

Ca

Caracul. Homozygotes are indistiguishable from Heterozygotes. Hair is wavy from the time it first grows in until about 4 weeks of age. After that the curves are greatly reduced but the hair retains a plush-like look.

Myo5a^d

d

Blue.  in nonagouti a/a mice, this recessive gene causes a blue dilution, causing the hairs to be blue or blue-black.

fr

fr

Frizzy. Mice with this allele have short thin frizzy hair. They have wavy or curvy whiskers.

fz

fz

Fuzzy. Hair is thin and wavy or curly. Wavy or curly whiskers

fgf5^go

go

Angora. Homozygotes are recognizable at about 18 days by the extra length of their guard hairs. At weaning the guard hairs are more than twice the normal length. They also have extra long whiskers.

hs

hs

Head Spot. This gene is highly effected by modifiers and may or may not appear on the offspring of two mice who both have head spots.

Kit^W

*

Dominant White Spotting. In general mice with this gene have areas of white on their coats, from simple spots to almost totally white. Homozygotes, with a few exceptions, are BEW and non-viable. Homozygotes with two different W genes are occasionally viable and usually BEW or BEW with some small pigment in the eye, ear, and sometimes rump and tail regions.

Kit^W

W

Dominant White Spotting. Heterozygotes have variable amounts of white spotting, depending on the genetic background. Colored areas may be interspersed with white hairs to produce a roan-type of pattern. Homozygotes are BEW and die within a week of birth.

Kit^W-a

W^a

Ames Dominant Spotting. These mice resemble W mice except that they have a prominant blaze and more belly spotting. Homozygotes are anemic and die a few days after birth.

Kit^W-b

W^b

Ballantyne’s Dominant Spotting. These mice have white spotting and a slight dilution of color, similar to W^v mice with more dilution & more spotting. Homozygotes may survive to maturity, if so they are BEW, anemic, and sterile.

Kit^W-bd

W^bd

Banded. Closely related to rumpwhite mice. Homozygotes are BEW with slight pigmentation on the ears and snout, and occasionally on the rump and tail region. They are viable and fertile but slightly anemic. Heterozygotes have a broad band of white in the trunk region.

Kit^W-sh

W^sh

Sash. Heterozygotes have a broad white sash around the body in the lumbar region. Homozygotes are BEW, fully fertile, and viable.

Kit^W-v

W^v

Viable Dominant Spotting. – Heterozygotes have a variable amount of spotting and also a slight dilution effect on the colored hairs. Homozygotes are BEW and anemic. Those who survive to maturity are possibly sterile and could have hearing problems.

p

p

Pink Eyes. Homozygotes have reduced pigmentation in the eyes. Black pigmentation is also greatly diluted, though yellow is only slightly effected.

Re

Re

Rex – Curly Hair. Homozygotes have a stronger expression of curly hair than heterozygotes. Both have curly whiskers and wavy coats. The waviness of coats disappears in adults but the whiskers and guard hairs remain curly.

Rn

Rn

Roan.  Heterozygotes have white or partly pigmented hairs distributed throughout the coat. Homozygotes are lighter than heterozygotes and are viable and fertile.

Rw

Rw

Rumpwhite. Heterozygotes have white hindlegs, tail, and posterior. Homozygotes die mid-pregnancy.

Ednrb^s

s

Piebald. Irregular white spotting on homozygotes. Homozygotes may develop megacolon.

sa

sa

Satin. A silky coat with a high sheen.

Si

Si

Silvered. Individual hairs on nonagouti silvers may be all white, all black, black with white tips, or white with gray or black bands. Silvering is very variable in appearance.

U

U

Umbrous. Causes a marked darkening in A/A mice, a mild darkening on A/a mice, and no effect whatsoever on a/a mice.

All the above information was gleaned from Jax.org