Allelism of panda and dotted white plumage genes in Japanese quail.

Panda and dotted white mutant plumage colors of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) were found to be controlled by the autosomal alleles. Both mutants showed white plumage with colored spots or patches, but they were easily distinguishable by size and location of the colored areas and the color and markings of the pigmented feathers. At hatching also they were easily distinguishable by the position, size, and colors of the spots or patches. The panda chicks possessed large blackish patches on the head, back, tail, cheek, and wing, whereas the dotted white chicks had small light brown spots on the head and/or back. Some dotted white chicks (12%) did not have any brown spots. In a testcross experiment, panda type and dotted white type progeny segregated in 1:0, 3:1, 1:0, and 1:1 ratios in the F1 and F2 generations and in back-crosses to the panda and dotted white parents, respectively, suggesting allelism and dominance of panda over dotted white. The new gene symbol sdw is proposed for the allele controlling the dotted white plumage.