Faded, a Mutation in the KSB Strain of Mouse which Shows Age-related Pigment Change

Abstract

Mice with a strange coat color were found in the KSB strain and separated as KSB-fe after fixation for this gene. These mutant mice have faded coat color (black becomes gray), with white underf ur, the pigment chaning towards white accompanied by frequent skin lesions. Faded homozygotes show a loss of pigment granules with ageing. Genetic studies were conducted with mice bearing this faded coat color. The mode of inherit-ance of the faded coat color was established to be autosomal recessive and the name faded (fe) was proposed. Faded was not allelic to dilute (d), leadend (ln), beige (bg) or pink-eyed dilution (p) loci.