Categories: Pigmentation phene

Mendelian trait/disorder: no

Mode of inheritance: Multifactorial

Disease-related: no

Key variant known: no

History: This trait was first described by Warren (1928).

Mapping: Wragg et al. (2012) mapped this trait to several regions, concluding that it is "sex-linked and polygenic". Guo et al. (2023): "compared the genomes of multiple domestic chicken breeds with red and white earlobes to identify the differentiated regions between groups of breeds differing in earlobe color. This was done using a selective sweep mapping approach based on whole-genome sequence data. The most significant selective sweep was identified on chromosome 11, where the white earlobe chicken breeds originated from Mediterranean share a common haplotype, and where multiple candidate genes are located. The most plausible functional candidate gene is the Melanocortin 1 Receptor (MC1R) ... ."

Breeds: Jiangshan Silkies, China (Chicken) (VBO_0006699), Rhode Island Red (Chicken) (VBO_0000599).
Breeds in which the phene has been documented. (If a likely causal variant has been documented for the phene, see the variant table breeds in which the variant has been reported).