Need a refresher on the basic of genetics? Or just a crash course? This is the page for you!
Basics
Genes provide instructions for how to produce a protein. Genes control almost every facet of a creature - how they function, how they look and even influence how they act. This is no different in Itona! Your Hound's genes control not only what it looks like, but also if it has any special instincts and how well it is capable of performing various functions.
The genes a hound has make up the genotype, which is generally written in shorthand. (Eg. bb Dd kk AyAy.) Hounds also have a phenotype, which is what they look like and their obvious features. (Eg. Black-Tan Sable with Coastal White) It is important to remember that a phenotype only describes what a hound looks like, it can't describe carried recessive traits. The phenotype is made up of the expressed alleles.
In summary: a phenotype is what a hound looks like, a genotype is a hound's genetic make up.
Genes can have variants - these are known as alleles. Hound have two alleles for each gene, one from each parent. There can be many different alleles for a single gene. All of these gene variants are called a series. Each gene, made up of two alleles, is located on DNA. The specific place these genes exist is called the locus.
In summary: two alleles form a gene at a locus on DNA.
Hounds have two types of colour pigment: eumelanin and phaeomelanin. Eumelanin causes black based colours, while phaeomelanin causes red based colours. Different genes control the expression and distribution of these pigments. How these pigments are arranged is called a pattern.
Basics
Genes provide instructions for how to produce a protein. Genes control almost every facet of a creature - how they function, how they look and even influence how they act. This is no different in Itona! Your Hound's genes control not only what it looks like, but also if it has any special instincts and how well it is capable of performing various functions.
The genes a hound has make up the genotype, which is generally written in shorthand. (Eg. bb Dd kk AyAy.) Hounds also have a phenotype, which is what they look like and their obvious features. (Eg. Black-Tan Sable with Coastal White) It is important to remember that a phenotype only describes what a hound looks like, it can't describe carried recessive traits. The phenotype is made up of the expressed alleles.
In summary: a phenotype is what a hound looks like, a genotype is a hound's genetic make up.
Genes can have variants - these are known as alleles. Hound have two alleles for each gene, one from each parent. There can be many different alleles for a single gene. All of these gene variants are called a series. Each gene, made up of two alleles, is located on DNA. The specific place these genes exist is called the locus.
In summary: two alleles form a gene at a locus on DNA.
Hounds have two types of colour pigment: eumelanin and phaeomelanin. Eumelanin causes black based colours, while phaeomelanin causes red based colours. Different genes control the expression and distribution of these pigments. How these pigments are arranged is called a pattern.
In summary: eumelanin is black pigment and phaeomelanin is red pigment. Pigments are arranged into patterns.
Dominance
All hounds have two alleles for every gene, but usually only one of these alleles is expressed. The most dominant allele is the one that is expressed. Recessive alleles are masked by dominant alleles. A series may be multiple alleles which all have a different level of dominance. In genetic short hand, the dominant allele is written with a capital letter (eg. B, for black) while the recessive trait is written with a lower case letter (eg. b, for chocolate.) Some alleles are also co-dominant, meaning both alleles present are expressed. Even with co-dominant genes usually the more dominant allele is expressed more strongly.
In summary: dominant alleles are expressed over recessive alleles, unless the gene is co-dominant, then both alleles are expressed.
Inheritance
When hounds breed each parent contributes one allele from each locus to the new puppy. Which allele is contributed is completely random. Each allele has a 50% chance of being given to the puppy.
Predicting Breedings
If you're trying to determine what colours and patterns will turn up in a litter, or how you ended up with the colours and patterns you got in a litter, a Punnett square is an easy way to work it out.
Making and using a Punnet square is easy. To work out a 1 gene Punnett square make a 3x3 grid. Put both alleles from one parent along the X axis, and both alleles from the other parent along the Y axis. Then working column by column and then row by row, fill in the cells! 1 allele comes from parent 1's column, 1 allele comes from parent 2's row. It doesn't matter if you fill in rows or columns first - this has no impact on the results! The completed cells will allow you to see what the possible genotypes are. You can also calculate how likely you are to receive each allele combination.
The below example illustrates what would happen if you bred two hounds who were black, but carried chocolate (Bb.) The phenotype of 75% of the puppies is black, the phenotype of the remaining 25% of the puppies is chocolate. The genotype of 25% of the puppies is BB, the genotype of 50% of the puppies is Bb, and the genotype of the remaining 25% of puppies is bb.
Dominance
All hounds have two alleles for every gene, but usually only one of these alleles is expressed. The most dominant allele is the one that is expressed. Recessive alleles are masked by dominant alleles. A series may be multiple alleles which all have a different level of dominance. In genetic short hand, the dominant allele is written with a capital letter (eg. B, for black) while the recessive trait is written with a lower case letter (eg. b, for chocolate.) Some alleles are also co-dominant, meaning both alleles present are expressed. Even with co-dominant genes usually the more dominant allele is expressed more strongly.
In summary: dominant alleles are expressed over recessive alleles, unless the gene is co-dominant, then both alleles are expressed.
Inheritance
When hounds breed each parent contributes one allele from each locus to the new puppy. Which allele is contributed is completely random. Each allele has a 50% chance of being given to the puppy.
Predicting Breedings
If you're trying to determine what colours and patterns will turn up in a litter, or how you ended up with the colours and patterns you got in a litter, a Punnett square is an easy way to work it out.
Making and using a Punnet square is easy. To work out a 1 gene Punnett square make a 3x3 grid. Put both alleles from one parent along the X axis, and both alleles from the other parent along the Y axis. Then working column by column and then row by row, fill in the cells! 1 allele comes from parent 1's column, 1 allele comes from parent 2's row. It doesn't matter if you fill in rows or columns first - this has no impact on the results! The completed cells will allow you to see what the possible genotypes are. You can also calculate how likely you are to receive each allele combination.
The below example illustrates what would happen if you bred two hounds who were black, but carried chocolate (Bb.) The phenotype of 75% of the puppies is black, the phenotype of the remaining 25% of the puppies is chocolate. The genotype of 25% of the puppies is BB, the genotype of 50% of the puppies is Bb, and the genotype of the remaining 25% of puppies is bb.
| B | b | |
| B | BB | Bb |
| b | Bb | bb |