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The Journal of Heredity 1990:81(4):250-256
© 1990 The American Genetic Association 81:250-256

research-article

Multifactorial Inheritance of Common White Markings in the Arabian Horse

C. M. Woolf

Department of Zoology, Arizona State University, Tempe.

Address reprint requests to C. M. Woolf, Department of Zoology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287.

Abstract

The results of a previous study were compatible with the hypothesis that common white facial markings in the Arabian horse have a multifactorial mode of inheritance. I expanded that study to (1) include the legs and therefore obtain insight into the heritability of common white markings in all peripheral regions (face and legs) of the Arabian horse and (2) investigate the influence of sex and the genotypes that produce the bay and chestnut phenotypes on the variation in common white markings. Both studies were based on computerized data obtained from the Arabian Horse Registry of America, Inc. Each leg of a horse was scored from 0 to 5 depending on the amount of whiteness present, and the four leg scores were added to obtain the total leg score for each horse. The facial region was divided into five areas, and each horse was given a score from 0 to 5 according to the number of areas with whiteness. Sire families were analyzed in which each sire family consisted of a sire, his foals, and the dams of those foals. There was a correlation between white facial scores and white leg scores, suggesting that both types of white markings are influenced by the same genetic mechanism. Sire-foal and dam-foal regression analyses were compatible with the hypothesis that common white leg markings also show multifactorial inheritance. Although the results support the model that additively acting genes (polygenes) influence the presence and extent of common white markings, the results also show that males are slightly more marked than are females and that chestnut horses are more heavily marked than are bay horses. I conclude that complex genetic systems and nongenetic factors determine the presence of common white markings in the Arabian horse.


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