In other species: domestic cat , cattle , dog , rabbit , water buffalo , ass , Japanese medaka , American mink , domestic ferret , pig , domestic guinea pig , Tufted capuchin , dark-spotted frog , Japanese wrinkled frog , Rice frog , lion , Mongolian gerbil , red fox , hamadryas baboon , red deer , Japanese raccoon dog , Japanese ratsnake

Possibly relevant human trait(s) and/or gene(s)s (MIM numbers): 203100 (trait) , 606952 (trait) , 606933 (gene)

Mendelian trait/disorder: yes

Mode of inheritance: Autosomal Recessive

Considered a defect: yes

Key variant known: yes

Year key variant first reported: 2012

Cross-species summary: Congenital lack of pigment in most parts of the body. Due to a non-functional form of the enzyme tyrosinase. Also known as Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA), Acromelanism and as the Himalayan coat-colour pattern

History: As reported by Polanowski et al. (2012), "In 1991, an all white humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) was observed near Byron Bay, New South Wales and has since been referred to in the media and scientific literature as “Migaloo.” This is the only documented occurrence of an anomalously white humpback whale (Forestell et al. 2001)."

Molecular basis: From analysis of "sequence variation at exon 1 of the tyrosinase gene in 66 humpback whale samples collected from the east coast of Australia, including an anomalously white humpback whale known as “Migaloo”", Polanowski et al. (2012) reported "a cytosine deletion that results in a premature stop codon in exon 1. The deletion truncates the tyrosinase protein including the putative catalytic domains that are essential for tyrosinase enzymatic activity. Migaloo was homozygous for this deletion, suggesting that the albino phenotype is a consequence of inactive tyrosinase caused by the frameshift in the tyrosinase gene."

Associated gene: