Breeding: Understanding different types and genetics?

[lQdALPHA]

Hi,
I've been always been interested in the genetic side of axolotls; i.e which colouring type is passed on. I have tried to do some research into this but it's gotten both confusing and vague on some parts.
Firstly: if we had the perfect scenario of each type of axolotl -Melaniod, Wild Type, White (Leucistic) and each of the 4 types of Albino - what would the egg ratio be (approx) if each were bred with another. Eg: Gold albino X Melaniod, or Wild Type X Leucistic.

Also what is the "GFP" type axolotls (GFP albino etc) i keep seeing this mentioned in various posts.

Thanks

 

[HayleyK]

I'm no good with the breeding side but the GFP axolotl is a green fluorescent protein.

Originally it was injected into an axolotl but can be passed on genetically now. Leucistics and lighter axolotls glow under uv light. If you have a dark axolotl that's gfp it might be harder to see however they have green fluorescent eyes. There are none in Australia as GFP anals are illegal, and considered animal cruelty/illegal to inject GFP.

I think the whole novelty of having a GFP is stupid. It glows under a light however that light is extremely stressful as their whole body and eyes glow and they can not escape the light. If people purely want an axolotl because of the GFP gene - they shouldn't own any axolotl. The axolotls care and well being overrides the "hey look how cool my axolotl looks when it glows" party trick.

I hope that clears things up about GFP

 

[auntiejude]

Your question makes no sense really, as a 'perfect' scenario isactually several possibilities.
Do youunderstand the concept of recessive genes? If you do it makes the whole thing easier to explain.

If you cross any 2 axies you will always get halves, quarters or eigths in the babies, as there are 4 controlling genes.

 

[minxytota]

Previously there was a mention of four types of albinos? Golden, white, copper... what's the other? Also to derail slightly how in the world do you tell apart a white and a gold albino? I sort my juvies by color and there are two or three that are either a yellowish white or so pale yellow they look white depending on the day.

 

[Boomsloth]

Hi,
I've been always been interested in the genetic side of axolotls; i.e which colouring type is passed on. I have tried to do some research into this but it's gotten both confusing and vague on some parts.
Firstly: if we had the perfect scenario of each type of axolotl -Melaniod, Wild Type, White (Leucistic) and each of the 4 types of Albino - what would the egg ratio be (approx) if each were bred with another. Eg: Gold albino X Melaniod, or Wild Type X Leucistic.

Also what is the "GFP" type axolotls (GFP albino etc) i keep seeing this mentioned in various posts.

Thanks

All the color genes (except wild type) that you mention are recessive genes. Every axolotl has a pair of each gene associated with pigments however dominant genes will overpower recessive genes. These genes effect the location or the amount of the different pigments (xanthophores, melanophores, iridophores). The variation among certain genes is what allows us to have all these different types of axolotls. A wild type (wt) axolotl contains dominant wild type genes. So an axolotl only needs one dominant wt gene at each location on the chromosome to result in a wt axolotl.
As far as I know there are only a few genes associated with the different pigment variations.
The melanoid gene
The leucistic gene
The albino gene
The axanthic gene
The copper is still unclear to me on its exact genetics but if anyone else knows they can help.
An axolotl needs to have two copies of any of these recessive genes to show that trait. But only one wt gene will block it from being expressed. Therefore two melanoid parents will produce 100% offspring that are considered "melanoid"
Now what gets tricky is that you have axolotls that are more than just melanoid/leucistic/albino. This comes from expressing more than one of these recessive traits. So a leucistic albino is considered a white albino. You need to look at what each gene type does to the axolotls pigments (decrease, increase, or location) then map out what genes together create what type of axolotl.

GFP was the insertion of a gene into the chromosome. It is considered dominant but is really only dominant because there is no other gene associated at that location. An axolotl either has it or not. It gets passed down like any dominant gene though.

Previously there was a mention of four types of albinos? Golden, white, copper... what's the other? Also to derail slightly how in the world do you tell apart a white and a gold albino? I sort my juvies by color and there are two or three that are either a yellowish white or so pale yellow they look white depending on the day.

I don't know if it was confirmed about coppers being some type of albino but i'd love to hear more. I think the four types referred to are as follows
Golden albino = Is only homozygous for the albino gene (so two of the recessive albino)
White albino = homozygous for albino and leucistic
Albino = albino + axanthic (not gold but yellows with age so not white)
melanoid albino = Albino + melanoid (not white but has some yellow)

The main difference between a golden albino and any other albino is that goldens have both xanthophores (yellow) and iridophores (shiny) pigments.
White albinos can have iridophores but they tend to be localized on the gills or dorsal line but they have NO xanthophores on their body.
The other types of albinos will either have a small amount of xanthophores or become yellow through other means.

 

[lQdALPHA]

Wow i can understand why GFP is banned here- sounds so cruel
Thanks for clearing that up.

The four types of albinos i got from this page: Axolotls - Genetics and Colour

With the copper axolotl i have read in many parts of the forums on this site that people classify them as a strain of wild type, yet many other sites they are classified as albino.....

And thanks @boomsloth! your explanation really helped me out

 

[HayleyK]

If you have a dark axolotl that's gfp it might be harder to see however they have green fluorescent eyes. There are none in Australia as GFP anals are illegal.

Oh gosh I meant animals!

 

[Lotl]

Copper is thought to be what they call T-positive albino, could be the same gene as in the reptile business.
I first thought it was a kind of hypomelanism, but unsure.
Recessive.

As for genetics, I also had a lot of difficulties with it.
The easiest way is to do maths (quite).

Take the albino gene: a
it is recessive
a/a is albino (two alleles = homozygous - not heterozygous (A/a is heterozygous for instance))
heterozygous = carries the gene without expressing it
a recessive gene needs to be homozygous to be expressed
A/A is nothing, the genes are inexistant (A is just to show that we focus on albinism, but A is not real, it simply doesn't exist)
think of it as an empty slot because big letters

if axie a/a breeds A/a, make a excel file type:

////// A a

a Aa a/a

a Aa a/a

So 50% carrying and 50% alb

Double ressecive are harder, you need to decompose each pssibility (16 slots, not 4 as in the preceeding stuff)

if we wanna know what would happen with melano-lucies for instance, with wildtype parents both carrying the m and d genes:

parent1 and 2: M/mD/d

make the potential for each:

//////// MD Md md mD

MD MMDD etc.

Md

md

mD


i wont tell you about the triple...