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lesbiten · 21 minutes
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what could have been!!
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lesbiten · 7 hours
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[Image Source]
Bengal Cat Coats Are Less Wild Than They Look, Genetic Study Finds
Bengal cats are prized for their appearance; the exotically marbled and spotted coats of these domestic pets make them look like small, sleek jungle cats. But the origin of those coats — assumed to come from the genes of Asian leopard cats that were bred with house cats — turns out to be less exotic.
Stanford Medicine researchers, in collaboration with Bengal cat breeders, have discovered that the Bengal cats’ iridescent sheen and leopard-like patterns can be traced to domestic cat genes that were aggressively selected for after the cats were bred with wild cats.
“Most of the DNA changes that underlie the unique appearance of the Bengal cat breed have always been present in domestic cats,” said Gregory Barsh, MD, PhD, an emeritus professor of genetics. “It was really the power of breeding that brought them out.”
For a study published online March 25 in Current Biology, Barsh and his colleagues analyzed genes collected from nearly 1,000 Bengal cats over the course of 15 years. Barsh is the senior author of the paper, and senior scientist Christopher Kaelin, PhD, is the lead author.
The results shed light not only on the Bengal cat’s coat but also help answer broader questions about how appearance is encoded in genetics and how different genes work together to yield colors, patterns and physical features.
Wild Origins
Barsh and his colleagues, including Kaelin, use cats and other animals to study the genetics of physical features. In previous studies, they identified genes responsible for the color coat variation in tabby cats and for the unique markings on the Abyssinian cat.
“The big-picture question is how genetic variation leads to variation in appearance,” Barsh said.
“This is a question that has all kinds of implications for different species, but we think that cats offer an especially tractable way to study it.”
From the 1960s through the 1980s, breeders, led by biologist Jean Mills, crossed the wild Asian leopard cat species Prionailurus bengalensis with domestic cats to create a new, visually striking cat breed. Over many generations, the cats with the desired physical characteristics and temperaments were progressively selected and bred. By 1986, the Bengal cat was recognized as its own new breed by the International Cat Association.
Barsh and Kaelin saw Bengals — with their recent genetic origin and unique appearance — as a particularly interesting way to study how genetic variation causes diversity in form, color and pattern. In 2008, they began reaching out to cat breeders, attending cat shows, and collecting cheek swabs and photographs of Bengal cats.
Genetic Surprises
The Stanford Medicine team suspected that Bengal cats might give them an accessible way to probe the genetics of wild cat colors and patterns that had evolved naturally. But after sequencing 947 Bengal cat genomes, they found something surprising: There were no parts of the wild Asian leopard cat genomes that were found in all Bengal cats.
“Nearly every Bengal cat breeder and owner has this idea that the distinctive look of the domestic Bengal cat must have come from leopard cats,” Barsh said. “Our work suggests that’s not the case.”
Instead, the genetic signatures suggested that the unique appearance of Bengals was a result of variations in genes that had already been present in domestic cats.
The team found something similar when they looked specifically at “glitter”: About 60% of all Bengal cats have particularly soft, iridescent fur that glitters like gold in the sunlight. A mutation in the gene Fgfr2, they showed, is responsible for glitter and comes not from leopard cats but from domestic cats. Glitter and the underlying Fgfr2 mutation are nearly specific to Bengal cats. Interestingly, the mutation reduces the activity of the protein encoded by Fgfr2, rather than rendering it inactive as many mutations do. This sheds light on how variations in genes can cause subtle changes in appearance, the researchers said.
Finally, Barsh and Kaelin’s group analyzed the genetics of “charcoal” Bengals, a rare subset of the breed with darker coloring. They uncovered a leopard cat gene linked to the charcoal color, but only when it was combined with domestic cat genome. The leopard cat gene, known as Asip, essentially doesn’t work as well when it’s mixed with the domestic genes — a phenomenon known as genomic incompatibility. So, in leopard cats, Asip doesn’t cause charcoal coloring, but the same gene in domestic cats does.
“Hybridization between different species can happen naturally and is responsible for the small amount of Neandertal DNA found in many human genomes," Barsh explained. “But the wild leopard cat and the domestic cat are more different from each other than humans are from chimpanzees, and it’s remarkable to see how DNA from these distantly related species can exist and work together in a popular companion animal.”
A Boost for Biology and Breeders
A better understanding of the genetic origins of Bengal cat traits is already helping Bengal breeders fine-tune the way they breed animals to create new colors and patterns. Over the past 15 years, Barsh and Kaelin have worked closely with Bengal cat organizations and given talks at cat shows. They often return ancestry and genetic data to owners to help guide their breeding.
“Breeders are extremely interested in our data,” Kaelin said. “They not only want to contribute their cats’ DNA but they also want to be involved and help analyze data and hear about our results. It’s been a great collaboration and a true example of citizen science.”
The researchers say there are lessons to be learned in just how powerful artificial selection can be, as the Bengal cat coats could probably have been selected for without the help of the Asian leopard cat.
“People have this idea that we have to get access to these distantly related animals to breed beautiful individuals and designer animals,” Barsh said. “But it turns out all the diversity was already there waiting in the domestic cat genome.”
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lesbiten · 7 hours
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saw the prettiest seal point tortie at work today but could not pet her because she was very very spicy :(
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lesbiten · 21 hours
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i have this disease where any time i hear this noise while outside i stop dead in my tracks and yell "CARDINAL!" and cant become a normal person again until i locate said cardinal
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lesbiten · 2 days
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a lot of the old wc covers are nostalgic for me but theres smthn abt feathertails character art on the cover of moonrise thats the most gorgeous + hits me w nostalgia the most out of all of them
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lesbiten · 2 days
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why did i google something and the first result was an ai generated answer from google. fuck outta here
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lesbiten · 3 days
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a couple of youtubers i subscribe to have been playing minecraft recently, either in a "ive never played mc but ill give it a shot" or a "i havent played minecraft since horses were added" way, and watching them has really made me realize how much ive just been min-maxing minecraft lately. like ive been doing some fun stuff, but its mostly extremely large projects that take hours of farming that isnt really fun for me. watching other people just play the game slowly and have fun inspired me to try and go back to experiencing the game that way, and it is so much more fun than what i've been doing.
does anyone else play minecraft in a 'i maximized my space for efficiency and then blanked on what else to do' style or am i just playing the game wrong
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lesbiten · 3 days
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eveeyones got it wrong your mid 20s arent for going to the club or partying or picking up new crafts. your 20s are for discovering how much more autistic you are than you thought you were in high school
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lesbiten · 3 days
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Oh fuuuuck. Oh fuck dude. I just got bit by a fucking clam and tonight's the full moon
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lesbiten · 3 days
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since we did the "gray cats blue eyes challenge", we should now do the "golden cats, amber eyes challenge", featuring mothwing, lionblaze, tree and and goldenflower
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lesbiten · 3 days
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okay now here's the REAL challenge. warriors artists. your mission, should you choose to accept it. "white cats with blue eyes" challenge. cloudtail, icewing, frostfur, icecloud. all visually distinct. godspeed.
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lesbiten · 5 days
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Again I must reiterate that this is a real, officially licensed magazine
(Doctor Who Magazine No 268, August 1998)
#dw
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lesbiten · 5 days
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a challenge from twitter!
my ass almost fell off from not making each of these into full blown illustrations, but i really have to spare my hand for now lol
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lesbiten · 5 days
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tonight i found out that the dachshund that bit the crap out of me this morning is *not* entirely aggressive. just kennel aggressive. i would let her walk around while i had to do stuff in her kennel and then she would just let me pick her up and put her back (and then go back to growling at me, but thats okay)
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lesbiten · 5 days
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CHECK OUT MY DRAWING PLEAAASE :)
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lesbiten · 5 days
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on the plus side the extremely dog aggressive bully who almost pulled my arm off trying to eat a squirrel goes home today
i went ahead and spent my whole shift with the small dogs today because last night i did the big dogs while my coworker did the small ones, and the big ones were a bit unruly and i didn't feel like getting dragged by an 80 lb doodle this morning. so today i instead got bit multiple times by 2 different dogs
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lesbiten · 5 days
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i went ahead and spent my whole shift with the small dogs today because last night i did the big dogs while my coworker did the small ones, and the big ones were a bit unruly and i didn't feel like getting dragged by an 80 lb doodle this morning. so today i instead got bit multiple times by 2 different dogs
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