TLDR Sphynx cats are hairless and Devon Rex cats have curly hair due to specific genetic mutations.
The study investigated the genetic basis of hairlessness and curly hair in Sphynx and Devon Rex cats by sequencing the KRT71 gene in various domestic cats. A splice site SNP was identified in Sphynx cats, linked to the hairless (hr) allele, and a complex sequence alteration causing a splice variation was found in Devon Rex cats, linked to the curly (re) allele. Genotyping approximately 200 cats showed that all Devon Rex cats were homozygous for the re allele, while most Sphynx cats were either homozygous for the hr allele or compound heterozygotes with the re allele. This suggested that these phenotypes were due to the identified SNPs, with the allelic series KRT71( + ) > KRT71( hr ) > KRT71( re ).
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August 2017 in “PloS one” Key genes linked to hair growth and cancer were identified in hairless mice.
