A New Spontaneous Allele at the Pink-Eyed Dilution (p) Locus Discovered in Mus musculus castaneus

Abstract

Mutant mice characterized by a cream coat and pink eyes were spontaneously discovered among the descendants of Indonesian wild mice (Mus musculus castaneus). This mutant phenotype was controlled by a single autosomal recessive gene that was allelic to the pink-eyed dilution (p) gene. The mutant mouse phenotypically resembled the original p mouse which was the first mutant identified at this locus. Nevertheless, these two alleles differed in origin, a previous report suggesting that the original p allele was derived from Japanese wild mice (M. m. molossinus). Thus the symbol p^cas (pink-eyed castaneus) was proposed for the present mutation allele.