Page 86 - JRT Magazine - 2023 Issue 2
P. 86
Education
Color
Genetics
OF JACK RUSSELL TERRIERS
Irina Moskaleva-Hisleur (France) and Candace Lundin, DVM, MS (USA)
The dog genome is made up of
about 19,000 genes, but only a
few affect the physical variations
in their coats. Most genes come
in pairs (one from each parent)
and are located at a specific, fixed
location, known as a locus, on a
dog’s chromosome (plural is loci).
A gene can have more than one
expression or version, each of
which is called an allele. When
dogs breed, the mother and
father each randomly contribute
one allele from each locus.
At each locus a dog will either be
homozygous in which the gene is
made of two identical alleles (one
inherited from each parent) or
heterozygous in which the gene
is made of two different alleles
(one inherited from each parent).
86 | A Worldwide Magazine for the Jack Russell Terrier / Russell Terrier • Issue 2/2023
