| Primary Identifier | MGI:1855930 | Allele Type | Spontaneous |
| Gene | a | Inheritance Mode | Dominant |
| Strain of Origin | C3H/HeJ | Is Recombinase | false |
| Is Wild Type | false |
| description | The Avy allele arose spontaneously in the C3H/HeJ strain. Avy resembles Ay except that homozygotes are viable and resemble heterozygotes with lower members of the series. Both homozygotes (Avy/Avy) and heterozygotes (Avy/A and Avy/a) show considerable variation in appearance, ranging from clear yellow, through mottling with dark patches, to a completely agouti-like coat (J:5475). The variation is strongly influenced by the agouti-locus genotype and strain genome of the dam (J:6103). A larger proportion of homozygotes than heterozygotes are clear yellow (J:13080). In combination with the dominant spotting allele KitW-2J, Avy heterozygotes that have the agouti phenotype have much larger white spots than those of yellow or mottled yellow phenotype (J:12035). Homozygotes and heterozygotes tend to become obese, and the degree of obesity is correlated with the amount of yellow in the coat (J:13142), except that Eso prevents synthesis of yellow pigment in Avy/- mice but does not prevent obesity (J:6103). Avy resembles a in causing greater tumor susceptibility and lower graft vs. host reactivity (J:5320) and higher hepatic malic enzyme activity (J:5759). The greater tumor susceptibility as well as several altered immune responses occur in Avy/a mice of mottled phenotype but not in those of agouti phenotype (J:7421). Genbank ID for this mutation: S74479 |
| molecularNote | An intracisternal A particle (IAP) retrotransposon is inserted 100kb upstream of agouti coding sequences causing ectopic, allele-specific imprinting of agouti protein expression. |
