I dont understand...

[paulh]

Heterozygous = one copy of the gene is present. Examples--het albino, het Russo BEL, Lesser Platinum, Cinnamon.

Homozygous = two copies of the gene are present. Examples--Albino, Piebald, Blue-eyed leucistic, Super Pastel.

(snip)

Unproven Dominant: New term coined for 'we don't know what's going on, because one copy of the gene changes the animal's appearance, and no animals with two copies appear to exist at all, or they haven't been discovered yet). (Spider)

Of course, things actually do get more complicated than that.

Alleles and complexes: Some genes occur on the same locus. To make this understandable, let's just pretend this means they are DIFFERENT mutations of the SAME gene. Because they are the same gene, each animal can still have only 2 copies of that gene, one from each parent. As a result, if the animal inherits 2 mutant genes--but they're on the same locus (they're different mutations of the same gene), then it will show a modified super form. Examples of complexes: Lesser Platinum, Mojave, Russo, Mystic, etc--all are on the same locus, which is why breeding a mojave to a lesser can produce a BEL, and why breeding a mojave to a mystic can produce a mystic potion.

Another complex is the albino complex--interesting, because albino is recessive. Albino, Toffee, and Candy are all on the same locus, so breeding an albino to a Toffee can produce Toffinos (which look like toffees).

Genes come in pairs. It is helpful to specifiy BOTH genes in a gene pair. All gene pairs are either homozygous or heterozygous.

Homozygous = the two genes in a gene pair are the same. Two normal genes, two albino genes, two lesser platinum genes.

Heterozygous = the two genes in a gene pair are NOT the same. A normal gene and an albino gene. A normal gene and a lesser platinum gene. an albino gene and a toffee gene. When someone says there is one gene present, they mean that the other gene is a normal gene.

All genes are either normal genes or mutant genes.

Normal gene = the most common gene in a given gene pair in the wild population.

mutant gene = Not the most common gene in a given gene pair in the wild population.

Unproven dominant = not recessive.

I am getting to dislike the term "super" more and more because every year it is getting less exact. It is easier for me to identify the two genes in the gene pair.

In the usual gene locus, you have a list of two genes. Pick one from the list for the first gene, and pick again from the list for the second gene. A two gene list is normal and mutant. The possible pairs are normal and normal, normal and mutant, and mutant and mutant. In a complex, you have a list of three or more genes -- normal, mutant1, mutant2, etc. Pick one for the first gene in the gene pair and pick again for the second gene in the gene pair. No animal can have more than two genes from the list, but different animals can have different genes in the gene pair. This is like making a two scoop ice cream cone. List of flavors is chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. One person can select two scoops of chocolate ice cream, and another person can select one scoop of vanilla and one of strawberry.