A mutation in the gene called myosin Va (MYO5A) is responsible for Lavender Foal Syndrome (LFS), reported a group of researchers from Cornell University and The Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center.

LFS is a heritable, fatal, neurological disease of horses that primarily occurs in the Egyptian Arabian, a sub-group of the Arabian breed currently found worldwide. Common clinical signs in affected foals are seizures, opisthotonos (severe hyperextension of the head, neck, and spinal cord), stiff, paddling leg movements, and nystagmus (involuntary movement of the eyeballs). Perhaps most characteristic is the soft lavender color of the foals' coats.

"There is no cure for LFS, and it is difficult to diagnose because the clinical signs are similar to other neonatal conditions, such as neonatal maladjustment syndrome and encephalitis," said lead researcher Samantha A. Brooks, PhD, an assistant professor from the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Based on research performed in human medicine and in other animal species, Brooks and colleagues scanned the entire genome of 36 Egyptian Arabian horses using a newly available technique called a "single nucleotide polymorphism chip." Using this genetic chip, the research team identified the MYO5A gene and discovered that a single mutation in a specific region of (exon 30) was present in all tested horses