A rare new colour of cat known as ‘salty liquorice’ has been discovered by researchers in Finland.
Cats with the unusual coat – known as ‘salmiak cats’ (which translates as ‘salty liquorice’)– are black with flecks of white. Elsewhere on their bodies, salmiak cats wear a ‘tuxedo’ pattern: a solid white neck, chest, belly and paws.
The unusual pattern of the new coat is caused by the colour of each hair changing from root to tip – starting out black near the cats’ skin then fading to white. And, as scientists recently discovered, that’s a huge deal genetically.
That’s because cats typically come in two colours: black and orange. If you think you’ve seen any others, that’s probably because all feline coats involve some degree of these two colours fading, being combined, or both.
Rather than having the usual gene which fades colours in feline coats, salmiak cats – which were first spotted there in 2007 – literally have a chunk of their DNA missing.
Not only that, but this genetic mutation is recessive – meaning both cat parents must have the gene for the kitten to inherit the colouring. Salmiak cats are therefore pretty rare.
“The discovery of the salmiak variant enriches our understanding of feline coat colour genetics,” study author Dr Heidi Anderson told BBC Science Focus. “This knowledge could also be valuable for breeding efforts, potentially contributing to the preservation of this trait in our feline companions in existing cat breeds.”
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During her research, Anderson and her team discovered that the KIT gene – the gene which is involved in fading black and orange fur colours into white – is not at work in salty liquorice cats. Published in the journal Animal Genetics, their new study reveals that a genetic mutation is instead behind the unusual colouring.
When they didn’t find the KIT gene to be causing the whiteness, the scientists turned to something more dramatic: sequencing the salmiak cats' entire genome. The clue lay in what wasn’t there, rather than what was. The answer? The two cats they tested were missing an entire section of their DNA.
The team then confirmed this finding in 181 cats. Of the three that were salmiak in this group, all were missing the same piece of DNA. Another three cats had the mutation, but only from one parent – so their coats did not resemble the tasty snack. The rest of the cats were not salmiak and had intact DNA.
According to Anderson, this study could help to bring other rare cats into the spotlight. “More random-bred cats will be finding their forever homes,” she said.
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