Thanks for this. I also have spotted female and spotted male bred together
and am awaiting the litter. I have read over and over that it is fatal. I
can only hope something undiscovered is about to be discovered.
>From: Muridea <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: Muridea <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: White Spotting- genetic question
>Date: Thu, 3 May 2001 20:49:31 -0500
>
>I want to know has anyone had this happen, is this normal or not. I have
>been selecting in one line for lots of white and roaning of colour on the
>back. I began with a gerbil that just had a headspot and partial colour-
>not very impressive- yet in a few generation of careful selection i have
>gotten to gerbils with patches of colour just around the ears, the white
>colour extending to midbody and the remainer of the rump coloured but
>extreemly roaned so that it looks almost like a chinchilla colour.
>
>Here is what I find odd though- Sp is dominant and homozygous lethal. I am
>breedign spotted to spotted without any problems. Theoretically I SHOULD
>get some solid coloured gerbils (about 1/3rd the litter actually born) but
>I dont. Every gerbil is either "extreem" spotted (as described above) or
>reverted to the original spotting pattern of the original spotted female -
>just a head spot with partial collar and no roaning of colour on the rump.
>My litters also tend to be about 6 babies each but then again, so do most
>of my non-spotted gerbil's litters- I was expecting smaller litters but it
>hasnt happened....
>
>Any idea why this happens (no solid coloured gerbils and no significant
>change in litter size)? My first thought was a non-lethal variation of the
>SP allele. My next idea was that i had overselected for spotting modifiers
>that when brought all together manage to make spotted gerbils without the
>actual SP gene present? Any other ideas?
>
>AG
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