Harlequin merle coat

Trait overview

Merle is a coat pattern that has patches of both diluted color and solid color. It is an incompletely dominant coat color caused by a variety of alleles. Merle dilutes eumelanin (black pigment). Minimal Merle presents as a tweed coloration. Dogs with MC1R e/e genotype do not produce black pigment, therefore they do not display Merle but can pass down Merle to their offspring.

Gene name(s)

PMEL

Inheritance

Autosomal incomplete dominance

More common in the following breeds

Dapple Dachshund, Australian Shepherd, Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Pyrenean Shepherd, Pomeranian, French Bulldogs, Mudi, Great Danes

Citations

https://doi.org/10.1111/age.13154