can someone explain to me the dumbo gene in rats?

Question

like is it ressesive or not and if one parent is a dumbo and the other is a standard will the babies, if bred to another with one dumbo parent, will have dumbo babies or not? and also if a standard rat with one dumbo parent is bred to a dumbo rat how many of the babies will be dumbo and if they will all be carriers of the gene or not? i was just wondering, and please don't lecture me on breeding b/c i never said i was, i just need to know about the dumbo gene for a project i'm doing and it needs to be kind on the detailed side... or if someone could give me a webpage, that would be great, thank you :)

Answer 1

The dumbo gene is a simple recessive gene, relative to regular ears, which are dominant. This is a classic Mendelian type of genetics.
Each rat carries 2 genes for ear size. A dumbo has 2 dumbo genes. A purebred regular rat has 2 regular ear genes. A hybrid between the two will have one dumbo gene and one regular gene. Since the regular gene is dominant, though, all these rats will have regular ears. But they can pass on the dumbo gene to their offspring.
All dumbo rats are purebred for that trait.
A rat that has regular ears may or may not carry the dumbo gene; you can't tell by looking at them. But if there have been no dumbos in the last 2 or 3 generations, it's pretty certain that they are purebred for regular ears.
If a dumbo mates with a rat that is purebred for regular ears, the offspring will have regular ears but will carry the dumbo gene which can pass on to later generations.
If 2 of these hybrid rats mate, one fourth of the offspring (on average) will be dumbo (purebred); one half will be hybrid but will have regular ears; and one fourth will be purebred for regular ears.
If a hybrid mates with a dumbo (purebred) rat, since the hybrid carries one dumbo and one regular gene, one half the offspring will be dumbos (purebred) and one half will be hybrids with regular ears.

Answer 2

I wasn't even aware that Dumbos were hard to find. I have 2 now, one is a Blue Dumbo (I bought her as a Blue Rat but her ears are all Dumbo!) and my other Dumbo was sold to me as a Fancy/Rex Rat but her ears are very Dumbo as well (and she has the curly fur of a Rex). I never thought they were anything other than Fancy until I got another rat who's ears are on the top of her head rather than the side. Heh. So when you're at a pet store be sure to look at all the rats. Sometimes they'll get classfied as something else but they'll still have the ears of a Dumbo. There's tons around my area either way. Good luck!

Answer 3

A dominant gene requires one copy to show...it can come from either parent. A recessive gene requires two copies to show...it must come from both parents.

Dumbo is a recessive gene, so to produce it both parents must either be dumbo or carry it. So, a rat getting two copies will be a dumbo (du/du), a rat getting one copy will be a carrier (Du/du) and a rat that has normal ears and doesn't carry it will be a standard ear (Du/Du).

If your standard ear has a dumbo parent, he/she is a carrier for certain, because that dumbo parent could only pass on what it has there...which are two dumbo genes. The whole litter had to get one copy and are therefore dumbo carriers.


Here are breeding probabilities:

dumbo x dumbo= 100% dumbo

dumbo x standard ear, but dumbo carrier = 50% dumbo, 50% standard ear

standard ear, but dumbo carrier x standard ear, but dumbo carrier= 25% dumbo, 75% standard ear

dumbo x standard ear (no dumbo gene carried)= 100% standard ear

standard ear (no dumbo gene carried) x standard ear (no dumbo gene carried)= 100% standard ear


Also, here is more on genetics:
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/7989/rats/genetics.html
http://www.curiosityrats.com/ (See "Genetics")

Answer 4

here are a bit of answers...at least on the breeding of dumbo with standard
I have a female dumbo, and a male standard they where breed in September and the outcome is nine babies 4 have dad's color, 5 have mom's color...6 are dumbo and 3 are standard...usually inter breeding the 2 gets a mixed litter but you do get some standard in a dumbo with dumbo breeding, i hope that helped a bit

Answer 5

only if the mother is dumbo that the babys will be dumbo
but its not the same with rex ...if u breed a rex with a standerd it doesent matter the gender of the parent that is rex ...no matter what the babys will be rex...but if u breed 2 rexes togather then u get a dubble rex...and if u breed 2 dubble rexs togather then u get a quad rex or a partail hairless,,,and if u breed 2 partail hairless togather than u get a full hairless.

yes the babys will carrie on the gene but only if they have enough of it ...and only 3-4 will turn out the full gene

i hope u have a good mark on ur gene project...

Answer 6

Do you have a science teacher you can talk to? It'd be easier for someone with a degree to explain it to. Sorry I can't be more help.

Answer 7

http://members.aol.com/RistoRat/dumbo.html
http://www.curiosityrats.com/mine.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fancy_rat#Varieties
http://www.geocities.com/petsburgh/7989/rats/genetics.html
I hope this helps you with what you are looking for