Thank you for the response!
I'm not sure if, from what I have read, that most of this fits with the marans, from my understanding of their genetic code they do contain mahogany and Melanotic as the MI allele.
I think you may be thinking of the mi allele, which does indeed do what you say - turns red into black as it is the recessive black allele.
For the other stuff, it may just be too scientific for me to grasp quite yet as I am new to this whole genetic thing (let alone protein complexes in the chickens!), and was not very good at biology when I did take it in highschool either. As an adult now though, (as highschool was quite some time ago...
) I like to think I have better mind focus and perseverance to bunker down until I do get it
What I presented to you came from scientific journals and books that are scientific conclusions about the genes mentioned.
I will present the information to you.
A. Lets deal with melanotic first. Melanotic (Ml*Ml) is not a part of the genotype of the black copper marans. If the black copper marans carried melanotic, the males and females would not have the copper color in their hackles. Melanotic is a eumelanin (black pigment) intensifier that replaces the red pigments in the hackles with black pigments.
1. This is a quote from Poultry Breeding and Genetics, R. D. Crawford , page 118 - R.J.Smith was the author of the section dealing with plumage color in chickens.
"Ml is an incompletely dominant autosomal mutation that extends eumelanin into the
normally red areas of pyle-zoned fowl, while having little effect on chick down color"
eumelanin is black pigment pyle-zone refers to the red in the neck hackles, saddle hackles and back of a chicken
2. Cote, R S, 1976, A genetic analysis of self-black plumage color in the domestic fowl, Master's thesis, University of Massachusetts
self black refers to a bird being a solid black color
In this study, he determined the genetic make up of 10 different birds (7 different breeds 9 different varieties) that were birchen or extended black at the E locus. One of the birds was birchen (like in birchen old english game plumage color).He discovered that 8 out of the 10 birds carried melanotic, one of the black birds did not carry melanotic, and the birchen bird did not carry melanotic. This study would indicate that most totally black birds carry melanotic.
3,
Melanotic: Key to a Phenotypic Enigma in the Fowl, J Hered (1971) 62 (4): 215-219 Moore and Smyth are the authors
In this paper, Smyth does many crosses with chickens that have different E locus alleles- he found that melanotic is the key to making a black bird and to produce a black bird the bird had to have two melanotic genes.
4. Bantam Chickens by Fred P Jeffery
In his book page 153 he indicates all
solid black birds that have yellow or white shanks carry melanotic
B. There is no recessive black allele. Punnett misinterpreted his findings. The recessive black gene is actually heterozygous melanotic on certain E locus backgrounds
In the paper
Melanotic: Key to a Phenotypic Enigma in the Fowl, the paper discusses the plausibility of there being a recessive black gene in chickens. The authors of the paper wrote the following quote" The phenotypic descriptions and accompanying photographs strongly suggest that recessive black is the same mutation as Ml."
C.
The research by Brumbaugh and Hollander, and that by Smyth and Somes would disagree with what is floating around the internet. Research by scientists reveals that the mahogany gene is a columbian-like restrictor removing black pigment from certain areas of the chicken's body. In the case of males, it removes some black from the breast of the male. In some cases , the breast will appear to be spangled.
The following is a quote from Smyth: GENETIC CONTROL OF MELANIN PIGMENTATION IN THE FOWL
"The major effect of Mh on the adult male is to restrict black from the base of the pennaceous part of the breast feathers. The amount of black left distally is less in homozygotes than In heterozygotes, some of the breasts of homozygotes resembling the secondary pattern, spangling."
"Several genes have been isolated that further restrict the black distribution associated with the unmodified E--alleles, primarily in the direction of a Columbian-like pattern. These include Columbian (Co),mahogany (Mh) , dark brown (Db)and dilute (Di). In addition there appears to be unidentified modifying genes such as those proposed by Somes and Smyth (1966) which tend to behave as a polygenic complex. Various genotypic combinations of the above can account for the many modified phenotypes ranging from a wild type male with slight red tipping on its black breast to a phenotypically non-black Buff Orpington."
"A number of genes appear to act as eumelanin inhibitors and modify the plumage toward the Columbian pattern. These are particularly effective against the black breast of wild type-patterned males, and reduce general body eumelanin In non-E females. Three such mutations that have been well established Include Columbian (Co),dark brown (Db) and mahogany (Mh). It would appear that there are other as yet unidentified genes in this category, possibly even a few with major effects. "
In addition to reducing the amount of black in the males breast, the mahogany gene would cause the red color of the female to be a darker red and remove some of the black from the body of the female.
"Mahogany's effect on primary pattern in the female is to restrict generally the amount of eumelanin in the plumage, particularly on the breast back and the wing bows and fronts. In the presence of sex-linked gold (s+), the phaeomelanin is dark red or mahogany In color. In the +e female the salmon breast also becomes dark red in color.
http://www.bantamclub.com/PDF/Smyth.pdf`
D. The mi gene is no longer used to describe a phenotypic expression. mi has been replaced by the Db or the dark brown gene.
Smyth, J.R., Jr and G.W. Malone, (1979). Evidence that plumage color genes mi and Db are identical. Poultry Sci. 58:1108-1109 (Abstract).
I have presented enough information that supports my position. 
