Roan, ticked and spotted coat patterns in the canine are associated with a novel coat patterning region on canine CFA38

White coat patterning is a feature of many dog breeds and is known to be coded primarily by the gene Micropthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF). This patterning in the coat can be modified by other factors to produce the attractive patterns termed “<i>ticked</i>” and “<i>roan</i>” that both describe the presence of flecks of color that vary in distribution and intensity within otherwise “<i>clear</i>” white markings. The appearance of the pigment in the white markings caused by <i>ticking</i> and <i>roaning</i> intensifies in the weeks after birth. We applied genome-wide association to compare English cocker spaniels of <i>roan</i> phenotype (<i>N</i>=34) with <i>parti-color</i> English cocker spaniels (<i>N</i>=9) and identified an associated locus on CFA 38.