Three Little Ladies Rabbitry Blog

One of the more more interesting coat genes in rabbits is the Satin gene. Basically it doesn’t alter the color of the individual hair strands. Rather it coats the hair strand with a transparent cover that give the rabbit a sheen or shine.

There are only two alleles in this gene. The one creating the satin fur is the recessive of the two alleles.

• Sa – Normal fur
• sa – Satin fur

The Sa – Normal fur allele

The Sa allele is the dominant of the two satin alleles. It can be present heterozygous (Sa sa) or homozygous (Sa Sa) and the rabbit will have normal fur.

The sa – satin fur allele

This is the recessive of the two satin alleles. It must be present homozygously (sa sa) for the rabbit to have satin fur. Rabbits with the satin fur will have a shine or sheen to them. This is created by a transparent covering on individual hair strands creating the satin look.

Conclusion

The satin gene creates a nice sheen or shine to a rabbit. It does this through a recessive allele, that when present adds a thin transparent covering to each individual hair strand.

Rob Usakowski
Three Little Ladies Rabbitry

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