Caturday felid trifecta: Gene for orange coat color found; the evil Icelandic Yule Cat; a hungry cat bursts through a snowbank, and lagniappe

I think in the last year a trope has originated in which orange cats are said to be mischievous and weird.  I’m not sure about that, but several studies (two below) report a paper that has apparently found the gene that, when mutated, causes a cat to be orange. From the first source (click on headlines to read):

Orange cats have earned an online reputation for being chaotic, energetic rascals. But among scientists, they’ve long been known for something else: the enduring mystery of their distinctive coats.

Now, two independent studies by American and Japanese scientists have probed the genetic origins of these cats’ color—and, working separately, the teams reached the same conclusion. They suggest that orange cats have their bright, warm pelts as a result of genetic variations on their X chromosomes. The papers, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, were recently posted to the preprint server bioRxiv.

Scientists Greg Barsh from Stanford University and Hiroyuki Sasaki from Japan’s Kyushu University and their teams studied feline genomes to pinpoint which protein encoded by a cat’s genes brought out the orange hue. What they found was astonishing: a tiny deletion on the cat’s DNA influenced its entire color scheme.

“Our work provides an explanation for why orange cats are a genetic unicorn of sorts,” Kelly McGowan, a Stanford University geneticist who participated in the American study, says to Tom Howarth at Newsweek. The orange cat is a “fascinating exception” to the way orange-like color variants occur in many other domestic species, such as dogs, sheep, horses or rabbits, she adds.

In most other mammals, mutations in a protein called Mc1r lead to red hair color. But this has failed to explain orange color patterns in cats. “It’s been a genetic mystery, a conundrum,” Barsh tells Science’s Sara Reardon.

Instead, the new studies point to a gene called Arhgap36, a protein on the X chromosome. It had never been in the lineup of potential candidates for the “orange gene,” so to speak, because it controls aspects of embryonic development. As a result, scientists thought major mutations to Arhgap36 would likely kill the animal, Barsh said.

Nevertheless, Barsh’s team found that Arhgap36 in orange cats produced almost 13 times more RNA—molecules that help translate DNA into proteins the body can use—compared to the same gene in other types of cats. When they took a closer look, they saw that an increased amount of Arhgap36 in melanocytes, or skin cells that produce hair color, led to production of a light red pigment, making a cat’s fur appear orange.

From The Smithsonian Magazine (click to read):

The article below from phys.org implies (it’s never stated explicitly in the non-scientific literature) that the gene which, when mutated, causes orange-colored fur, also causes black or other coloration when it occurs in other forms. Since the genes for coloration are on the X chromosome, and males are XY (the Y carries no color genes), males can be black or orange, but never both because they have only one X chromosome=. Females, with two Xs, can show both colors, and that’s why calico and tortoiseshell cats, with black and orange, as well as white, are nearly always females, as you see below. (Rare XXY torties occur, and they’re male but show the black-and-orange pattern.

The reason why you have different-colored patches of fur in torties and calicos is because “dosage compensation” in females in effected by having one X chromosome turned off in each cell, and adjacent cells inherit that condition. Thus one gets patches of orange and black (or white) corresponding to parts of the fetal kitten in which the different X chromosomes are activated and inactivated.

Here’s a calico cat (female):

As Wikipedia notes, “A calico cat is not to be confused with a tortoiseshell, who has a black undercoat and a mostly mottled coat of black/red or blue/cream with relatively few to no white markings. ”  Here’s a tortie:

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Iceland harbors the saga of the Yule Cat (Jólaköttur ), whose myth originated around 1862, It is a fearsome felid. As Wikipedia notes:

The Yule cat (Icelandic: Jólakötturinn, IPA: [ˈjouːlaˌkʰœhtʏrɪn], also called Jólaköttur and Christmas cat) is a huge and vicious cat from Icelandic Christmas folklore that is said to lurk in the snowy countryside during the Christmas season and eat people who do not receive new clothing before Christmas Eve. In other versions of the story, the cat just eats the food of people without new clothes. Jólakötturinn is closely associated with other figures from Icelandic folklore, considered the pet of the ogress Grýla and her sons, the Yule Lads.

ZME Science says the story actually originated in the Dark Ages but wasn’t written down until the mid-1800s. Here’s how the myth goes:

In Medieval Iceland, employers rewarded their employees and members of their households with new clothes and sheepskin shoes. The gifts were made as a reward for a year of hard work and as a motivator to finish the work before Christmas — particularly processing the autumn wool. Here’s the thing, though: if you didn’t have new clothes for Christmas, the dreaded Yule Cat would come out and eat you — and this was no ordinary cat.

It towers above the tallest buildings, prancing around Iceland looking for people without new clothes. It especially looks for children and inspects them to see if they have new garments. If they were too lazy to earn them, the unfortunate children might just end up on the menu of the Yule Cat.

Over time, the legend evolved. You don’t need to buy new clothes every year, one way to avoid the Yule Cat’s claws is by being generous: Gifting clothes to the less fortunate also keeps the cat at bay.

Here’s a cartoon of a girl with new clothes who gets saved from the  Jólaköttur, while her brother, bereft of new garb, seems to have been badly scratched (though not eaten):

And below is a video of Björk singing a song about the Jólaköttur.  The Icelandic lyrics are at the YouTube site, and here’s their Google translation (Listen for the word “Jólakötturrinn” in the first line.)

You know the Christmas cat
that cat was a giant
People didn’t know where he came from
or where he went

He opened his eyes
both glowing
It wasn’t for the fainthearted
to look at them

The combs were sharp as thorns
up from his back
and the claws on his hairy paws
were ugly to see

That’s why the women competed
with combs and looms and spinning wheels
and knitted colorful scarves
or little socks

Because the cat wasn’t allowed to come
and tease the children a little
They had to make clothes
from the adults

And when the lights were turned on on Christmas Eve
and the cat peeked in
the children stood there, red and excited
with their parcels

He waved the stele strongly
he jumped and he scratched and blew
and was sometimes up in the valley
or out on the headland

He hovered, hungry and fierce
in the bitterly cold Christmas snow
and made the hearts tremble
on every farm

If there was a pitiful sleigh outside
the misfortune was immediately certain
Everyone knew that he hunted men
but did not want mice

He laid down on the poor people
who did not get any new sleighs
for Christmas – and struggled and lived
in the poorest conditions

From that he took the food
at once
all of their Christmas food
and ate it most of the time almost by himself
if he could

That was why the women competed
with combs and looms and spinning wheels
and knitted colorful scarves
or little socks

Some of them got aprons
and some had received shoes
or something that was considered necessary
but that was enough

Because the cat could not eat anyone
who received some clothing
Then she hissed rather badly
and ran away

Whether she still exists, I do not know
but her path would be sad
if everyone next
had some bread

You may now have in mind
to help, if there is a need
maybe some children
who do not get anything

Perhaps, the search for those who suffer
from the lack of light in the world around
gives you a good day
and a merry Christmas

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The description of this video, which appears to have gone viral, is this:

This hilarious video shows the moment a hungry moggy would not let anything get in the way of his dinner. Plume the cat bursts through a wall of snow after his owner put a dish of his favourite grub out and calls the famishing feline.

The cat, who is a sprightly 14-year-old, was caught on camera by his owner Ann Got after she noticed he tried to make a hole in previous snowdrifts. As the footage rolls, a chilly Plume can be seen outside before Ann, 25, opens the back door to reveal a pile of snow up against. Then as Ann shouts she has food seconds later Plume bashes his way through the snow drift.

Ann said: “This happened after a huge snowstorm in Gaspe, in Quebec, Canada, on February 16. “Plume had made this entrance before then I was thinking he can make it again and then after some more snow he did it again. “I have been surprised but the funny reaction, but we have had some people say he was thrown through, which he was definitely not. “He’s just a very straightforward cat.” Video licensing : agencemediafailsworld@gmail.com

 

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Lagniappe from Cat Memes: From Iceland, a depiction in lights of the Jólaköttur:

h/t: Russell