New Zealand Rabbit Genetics

[garett22]

Hello, I have a question regarding New Zealand rabbit genetics.
We mated a black male with a white female and the offspring were 4 white, 4 black, and 1 grey with white feet. Can anyone explain the possible genotypes of the parents and how we got a grey one with white feet?

 

[junebuggena]

It's my understanding that the white is dominant, and it can hide quite a lot of other color genes.

 

[garett22]

I understand that there are around 5 genes that contribute to color and that the albinos have a "cc" genotype which masks other color traits

 

[Bunnylady]

The gray with the white feet is probably a "booted" broken. The actual expression of the broken gene can vary quite a bit. The broken gene itself is dominant, but there are a bunch of other genes that influence just how the pattern is expressed. Without the proper "helpers," you can get a rabbit with just a little bit of white on the feet, maybe some on the chest and/or belly, and maybe a little white mark on the forehead (the Mini Rex baby in my avatar is a booted broken). With the right helpers, you can get the highly detailed pattern of an English Spot.

Are we talking gray as in an allover gray color (i.e. blue) or the wild type agouti patterned animal?

Broken had to have come from your NZW, since broken is dominant, and you didn't say there was any white on the NZB.

The rest of the genotypes of your NZ's gets a bit tricky. There are two ways you can get a solid black rabbit: two copies of the self gene in the a series, or at least one copy of the steel gene paired with something other than normal extension in the e series. Lots of NZ's carry steel, some carry self; it's a little hard to say which this is.

 

[garett22]

Thanks--very helpful. Buy yes, there is not white on the NZB, the grey (blue) baby is all grey with just two white feet, so it was very confusing. We were just curious as to whether we could get a brown (red) offspring.

 

[Bunnylady]

Blue is the dilute of black, and it is recessive, so both parents would have to have at least one copy of dilute for you to have a dilute colored baby (the black clearly only has one copy, and one copy of the full color gene [Dd], but the NZW could possibly have two copies). Blue is not currently a showable color in NZ's, but there are some people working on getting it accepted, so that may change.

The genotype of a NZR is A_B_C_D_eeww++++. While a lot of that could be lurking beneath black or white, obviously neither one could have all of it. While it might be possible for a red to be born to a random pairing of a black and a white, it's hard to know if your particular pair could manage it.