Shedding Light on Night Blindness in Appaloosas
Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) in Appaloosas has been linked to the leopard complex spotting in these horses. But how are these two apparently independent genetic
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Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) in Appaloosas has been linked to the leopard complex spotting in these horses. But how are these two apparently independent genetic features related?
According to researchers, both CSNB and spotting pattern in Appaloosas are thought to be caused by a gene called "transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily M, member 1," or simply, TRPM1.
Rebecca Bellone, PhD, and fellow researchers from the University of Tampa’s Department of Biology examined horses with zero, one, or two copies of the dominant form of the LP gene and compared expression level of five genes located near the mapped LP locus, including TRPM1, in skin and retina samples.
They found that the TRPM1 gene expressed itself more in horses with two copies of the LP allele
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