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Posted by Paul Hollander on April 18, 2001 at 16:54:32:
In Reply to: Better send it to all of us paul, but m first ;) n/p posted by Victor Freeman on April 18, 2001 at 13:55:23:
A Partial Gene List for the Corn Snake
Common Name: Corn Snake
Scientific Name: Elaphe guttata guttata
Number of Loci: 9
Unless specified otherwise, recessive means recessive to
the wild type allele, dominant means dominant to the wild
type allele, and codominant means codominant to the wild
type allele. Symbols conform to the rules for
nomenclature for the mouse.
1) Locus Symbol: a
Number of Alleles: 2
+ = a+ = wild type allele
a = amelanistic. Recessive. A defective tyrosinase
enzyme is unable to form black pigment. Where the normal is
black, the mutant looks white but is actually colorless. The
eyes are pink. Red pigment is unaffected.
2) Locus Symbol: ax
Number of Alleles: 2
+ = ax+ = wild type allele
ax = anerythristic. Recessive. Prevents red
pigment from being formed. Color is shades of gray from
white to black because the amount and distribution of black
pigment is unaffected. Older adults develop yellowish tints
along the neck.
3) Locus Symbol: ca
Number of Alleles: 2
+ = ca+ = wild type allele
ca = caramel. Recessive (probably). Changes the
red pigment to yellow. The mechanism is unknown; possible
explanations include a change in the pigment molecule, a
change in the pigment granule structure, reduction in the
number and/or size of pigment granules, etc. Black pigment
is not affected.
4) Locus Symbol: ch
Number of Alleles: 2
+ = ch+ = wild type allele
ch = charcoal (Sometimes called anerythristic type
b.). Recessive. Prevents red pigment from being formed.
Color is shades of gray from white to black. Older adults do
not develop yellowish tints, and there are a few other
subtle differences from anerythristic.
5) Locus Symbol: hy
Number of Alleles: 2
+ = hy+ = wild type allele
hy = hypomelanistic. Recessive. Reduces the amount
of black pigment but does not entirely eliminate it. The
mechanism is unknown. Red pigment is not affected.
6) Locus Symbol: la
Number of Alleles: 2
+ = la+ = wild type allele
la = lavender. Supposed to be recessive to normal
pigment. Pictures indicate that the red pigment is greatly
reduced, the black pigment is somewhat reduced and the body
has is an overall bluish or purplish tint. See the
7) Locus Symbol: mo
Number of Alleles: 3
+ = mo+ = wild type allele
mo = motley. Recessive. The blotches are run
together, and the checkers on the belly do not appear so
that a uniform ventral coloration is produced.
most = striped. Recessive. The blotches
are converted into four stripes and the checkers on the
belly do not appear so that a uniform ventral coloration is
produced. Motley is codominant to striped because a
heterozygous motley/striped (mo//most)
corn snake has a pattern that is approximately intermediate
between a motley (mo//mo) and a striped
(most//most) corn snake.
8) Locus Symbol: pb
Number of Alleles: 2
+ = pb+ = wild type allele
pb = plainbelly (likely to be called blood red).
Recessive. The blotched pattern is diffuse instead of being
sharply defined. The normal dark checkering on the belly is
absent. The blood red variety of corn snake combines this
mutant with a dorsum that is a deeper red than normal.
9) Locus Symbol: zi
Number of Alleles: 2
+ = zi+ = wild type allele
zi = zigzag. Claimed to be recessive. Converts the dorsal
blotched pattern into a more or less zigzag pattern. The
belly is checkered, unlike motley.
Unknown Inheritance
Miami phase. The inheritance seems to be unknown. Ground
color is gray (sometimes with yellowish tints), and the
bloches are red.
Okeetee. Snakes with a particularly bright red-orange
ground color and relatively wide black borders around the
dorsal blotches. The name comes from the Okeetee Hunt Club
in southeastern South Carolina, where such snakes are
common. Similar snakes are found elsewhere, too.
Piebald. The hide is patched with variable amounts of
white. This condition is not present at birth but appears
later in life. It may be the result of an autoimmune
disease.
Mutant Combinations
Most of the corn snake color and pattern varieties were
produced by combining two or more mutants. For example, snow
is a combination of amelanistic and anerythristic (a//a
ax//ax). Blizzard is believed to be a combination of
amelanistic and charcoal (a//a ch//ch), though there
may be something else there, too. And ghost is a combination
of anerythristic and hypomelanistic (ax//ax
hy//hy).
Hybrids
Creamsicle. Amelanistic in a snake with both corn snake
and Great Plains rat snake ancestry. The red pigment is a
less intense color than in an amelanistic corn.
