Coat Patterns
Roan (Linkage test)
Alternative Names: Blue Roan, Blue, Speckled, Mottled
Roan patterning is caused by an intermingling of white and pigmented hairs, with the pigmented hair color matching the base color of the coat in that area if white was not present. Roan may occur with or without small spots of solid color, called ticking. Roaning is common in certain breeds such as the Australian Cattle Dog and German Shorthaired Pointer. The Wisdom test for roan patterning is what is known as a linkage test. It does not directly test for the roan-associated variant but provides a prediction based on nearby proprietary marker(s) in the DNA. The test therefore gives an indicator of genetic status for this trait.
More Info
Did you know?
Roaned puppies are born mostly white and begin to develop their roaning pattern between 2 to 8 weeks of age. The roan patterning will become more prevalent as the dog ages. Dalmatians are thought to have a recessive modified form of roan that leads to the development of spots after birth.
How it works
To show roan patterning, a dog must inherit one or two copies of the roan variant and also express Piebald or another variant associated with white markings. Roan is only visible on the white areas of a dog’s coat.
Prevalence
1 in 10 dogs
has one or more copy of this genetic variant in our testing.
Technical Details
| Gene | USH2A |
|---|---|
| Also Called | Ticking (T) Locus |
| Variant | G>A |
| Chromosome | 38 |
| Coordinate | 11,085,443 |
All coordinates reference CanFam3.1
References & Credit
Credit to our scientific colleagues:
Brancalion, L., Haase, B., Mazrier, H., Willet, C. E., Lindblad-Toh, K., Lingaas, F., Wade, C. M. (2021). Roan, ticked and clear coat patterns in the canine are associated with three haplotypes near usherin on CFA38. Anim Genet 52(2), 198-207. View the article
Kawakami T., Jensen M.K., Slavney A., Deane P.E., Milano A., Raghavan V., …Boyko, A.R. (2021) R-locus for roaned coat is associated with a tandem duplication in an intronic region of USH2A in dogs and also contributes to Dalmatian spotting. PLoS ONE 16(3): View the article