Black or solid coat color (melanism)

Trait overview

The gene agouti/ASIP has been implicated in pigmentation, including melanism, in mice and other animals. If a cat carries 2 copies of a particular 2-basepair deletion in the ASIP gene, their coat is likely to be a solid or black color.

Gene name(s)

ASIP

Inheritance

Autosomal recessive

More common in the following breeds

Current data does not indicate that this trait is more common among specific breeds.

Citations

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-9822(03)00128-3