{{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
Goats expressing the Swiss Marked pattern have a black (
eumelanin
Melanin (; from el, μέλας, melas, black, dark) is a broad term for a group of natural pigments found in most organisms. Eumelanin is produced through a multistage chemical process known as melanogenesis, where the oxidation of the amino ...
pigment) body and belly and tan (
phaeomelanin
Melanin (; from el, μέλας, melas, black, dark) is a broad term for a group of natural pigments found in most organisms. Eumelanin is produced through a multistage chemical process known as melanogenesis, where the oxidation of the amin ...
pigment) legs, ears, and facial stripes. The
allele
An allele (, ; ; modern formation from Greek ἄλλος ''állos'', "other") is a variation of the same sequence of nucleotides at the same place on a long DNA molecule, as described in leading textbooks on genetics and evolution.
::"The chro ...
which codes for this pattern is located at the
agouti locus
The agouti (, ) or common agouti is any of several rodent species of the genus ''Dasyprocta''. They are native to Middle America, northern and central South America, and the southern Lesser Antilles. Some species have also been introduced else ...
of the goat
genome
In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ...
. There are multiple
modifier genes
Epistasis is a phenomenon in genetics in which the effect of a gene mutation is dependent on the presence or absence of mutations in one or more other genes, respectively termed modifier genes. In other words, the effect of the mutation is dep ...
which control how much tan pigment is actually expressed and so the tan areas can range from pure white to deep red. There may also be present
dilution gene
A dilution gene is any one of a number of genes that act to create a lighter coat color in living creatures. There are many examples of such genes:
General
Diluted coat colors have melanocytes, but vary from darker colors due to the concentration ...
s which turn the black areas in the pattern to either chocolate or medium brown.
Image:Toggenburger.jpg, A Toggenburg goat with Swiss Markings. Note that these Toggenburgs have modifier genes
Epistasis is a phenomenon in genetics in which the effect of a gene mutation is dependent on the presence or absence of mutations in one or more other genes, respectively termed modifier genes. In other words, the effect of the mutation is dep ...
which turn the black-pigmented areas to medium brown and the tan areas to white.
Goat color patterns