In British Shorthair and Siberian cats, the Gold phenotype is a colour modification of a typical striped tabby coat, lightening it to shades of yellow and orange. The phenotype can be caused by one of several different mutations to the Corin serine peptidatse (CORIN) gene: Sunshine (designated as wb^SIB), Extreme Sunshine (wb^eSIB) and Copper (wb^BSH).
Several different variants of the Gold mutation have been described, each with their own specific phenotype. Sunshine cats exhibit a warm tone of tabby, with golden fur, brown or ruddy tabby stripes, a pink nose lacking a black lining, and a large light cream area around the muzzle. Extreme Sunshine cats exhibit a blond undercoat tone, strong lightening of the tabby marks, light-cream belly and the same unmarked pink nose as Sunshine cats.
The Copper phenotype in the British Shorthair, also known as light-gold and akita, results in a blonde or golden-red tabby pattern, with a lighter belly, white paws and a black tail tip.
Inheritance
The Gold phenotypes Sunshine and Copper each have an Autosomal Recessive mode of inheritance. The Extreme Sunshine allele wb^eSIB is itself dominant over the Sunshine allele wb^SIB. The interaction of the Siberian Sunshine alleles with the British Shorthair’s Copper allele is unknown.
Relevant tests
• K470
• K471
• K472
