Color Modification
Cocoa (Discovered in the French Bulldog)
Alternative Names: French Bulldog Brown, Chocolate Brown

Cocoa, discovered in the French Bulldog, is a variant found in the HPS3 gene and is scientifically known as "co." Cocoa is associated with a dark brown coat coloration and dark amber eyes in French Bulldogs. Notably, all other known chocolate variants are found in the TYRP1 gene (B locus) and are associated with a lighter brown coat and amber eyes.
More Info
Did you know?
Cocoa type variants are known to occur in humans, mice, and dogs. But, in dogs, cocoa is presently only known in French Bulldogs and was previously referred to as a "non-testable chocolate".
How it works
To show cocoa coloration, a dog must inherit two copies of the cocoa variant, one from each parent. Understanding how cocoa interacts with chocolate variants in the TYRP1 gene remains to be determined. This makes predicting the appearance of a dog with two copies of cocoa (co) and two copies of chocolate (b) difficult.
Prevalence
1 in 86 dogs
has one or more copy of this genetic variant in our testing.
Technical Details
Gene | HPS3 |
---|---|
Also Called | Co Locus |
Variant | G>A |
Chromosome | 23 |
Coordinate | 43,969,695 |
All coordinates reference CanFam3.1
References & Credit
Credit to our scientific colleagues:
Kiener, S., Kehl, A., Loechel, R., Langbein-Detsch, I., Muller, E., Bannasch, D., Jagannathan, V., Leeb, T. (2020). Novel Brown Coat Color (Cocoa) in French Bulldogs Results from a Nonsense Variant in HPS3. Genes 11(6), 636. View the article