Melanin is a pigment that is generated by an enzyme called tyrosinase. A mutation in Siamese cats causes tyrosinase to work best at room temperature (~77°F). Use the coloration pattern of Siamese cats to explain why this mutation is classified as "conditional".
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Step 1: Melanin is a pigment that is generated by an enzyme called tyrosinase. Show more…
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Some mutations result in proteins that function well at one temperature but are nonfunctional at a different (usually higher) temperature. Siamese cats have such a "temperaturesensitive" mutation in a gene encoding an enzyme that makes dark pigment in the fur. The mutation results in the breed's distinctive point markings and lighter body color (see the photo). Using this information and what you learned in the chapter, explain the pattern of the cat's fur pigmentation.
Some mutations result in proteins that function well at one temperature but are nonfunctional at a different (usually higher) temperature. Slamese cats have such a "temperature-sensitive" mutation in a gene encoding an enzyme that makes dark pigment in the fur. The mutation results in the breed's distinctive point markings and lighter body color (see the photo). Using this information and what you learned in the chapter, explain the pattern of the cat's fur pigmentation.
Sri K.
Coat color in cats is determined by genes at several different loci. At one locus on the X chromosome, one allele $\left(X^{+}\right)$ encodes black fur; another allele (X") encodes orange fur. Females can be black $\left(\mathrm{X}^{+} \mathrm{X}^{+}\right)$, orange $\left(\mathrm{X}^{\circ} \mathrm{X}^{\circ}\right),$ or a mixture of orange and black called tortoiseshell $\left(\mathrm{X}^{+} \mathrm{X}^{\circ}\right)$ Males are either black $\left(X^{+} Y\right)$ or orange $\left(X^{\circ} Y\right) .$ Bill has a female tortoiseshell cat named Patches. One night Patches escapes from Bill's house, spends the night out, and mates with a stray male. Patches later gives birth to the following kittens: one orange male, one black male, two tortoiseshell females, and one orange female. Give the genotypes of Patches, her kittens, and the stray male with which Patches mated.
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