YELLOW: A MUTANT PLUMAGE COLOR, SEGREGATING INDEPENDENTLY FROM BROWN, IN JAPANESE QUAIL

Two birds of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) with "yellow" plumage were found in a brown feathered population hatch. The trait was demonstrated to be due to the heterozygous condition of a single, dominant, autosomal gene (Y). The Y/Y genotype was found to be lethal presumably at a very early stage of embryonic development. A backcross test of 994 observations indicated that the loci for the brown and yellow plumage traits were inherited independently. The yellow feathered gene may also act as a partially dominant lethal with approximately 10% mortality.