Katharina Fleck, Georg Erhardt, Gesine Lühken
Leucism is characterized by a complete or partial white skin and hair in combination with pigmented irides, which can be vivid blue or heterochromatic. This is due to a complete or partial lack of melanocytes. The underlying pathogenesis is a disturbed emigration or differentiation of neural crest-derived cells. Therefore, leucistic phenotypes can be associated with defects, which mainly impair sensory organs and nerves. In humans, a well-known example is the Waardenburg syndrome. Leucism-associated disorders were also described in mouse, rat, hamster, rabbit, mink, cat, dog, pig, sheep, llama, alpaca, cattle and horse...
July 2016: Berliner und Münchener Tierärztliche Wochenschrift