Ed/Ed what does that give me in color?

[Maple View Farm]

So our bull just got his color results back and it was E capitol D but smaller / E capitol D but smaller. The E is for the black I take it and the D is for the dun??

Hoping Carol will chime in and help.

Thanks

[cddexter]

well, no guarantees, but...

E (superscript D) stands for black, dominant.

E (superscript +) stands for 'wild' which is recessive to black but dominant to little e red. In our breed, this E+ is expressed as red. (in other breeds, it can be taupe. black or black with a red crest).

e is recessive red.

On a totally different chomosome is another gene that determines our brown.

It has two alleles, a D, and a little 'd' which is the dun gene, and is recessive. So far, we are the only breed that has a brown tone that shows that particular gene. Al the other brown tones come from dominant dilute genes.

So to get dun, you need at least one dominant black gene at the base locus, and two little 'd's at the brown locus. If you have either of the reds (homozygous), and two little 'd's at the brown locus, the animals will still be red, as the brown is hidden.

Sort of mud brown, isn't it? ;D c.

[Maple View Farm]

Thanks Carol. Forgive my elementary level in genetics. When we breed him to a dun heifer or a red heifer let's say, is it basicly a 50/50 chance to get a dun or red calf? We probably need to know the heifers color markers don't we?

[cddexter]

Well, ED ED is 100% homozygous BLACK.

You don't mention if you have had the animal tested for brown. Since brown is on a different chomrosome, testing at the base locus won't tell you what the 'brown' status is.

So, you need the brown (dun) test first.

then, it goes like this:

you have only black at the base locus, so you'll never get a red directly from him, as he only has black to pass on, and BLACK is dominant to red and will always overpower it, even if he's bred to a red cow.

If he doesn't have any dun genes at the other locus then all his calves will be black.

To get a dun, he'd have to have at least one dun gene, and so would the cow. If both just have one, that would give you a 25% chance of dun. If one has one gene and the other two, then you'd have a 50% chance. If both have two genes, then you'd be guaranteed to get a dun 100% every time those two specific animals were mated.

Look up Punnett Square, apply the principles, and you should be able to figure it out. cheers, c.





if

[Maple View Farm]

Will do. Thanks for the help. Good lessons for the kids.