or wild type allele and which is a more recent mutation. In our example z (non-silver) would be wild type and Z would be a mutation. Wild type alleles can be represented as + or n, so Zz, Zz+, Z/+, and Z/n are all valid ways to describe a horse heterozygous for silver. Wild type notation is mainly useful when there is no clear dominant/recessive relationship, such as with cream and frame overo, or when there are many alleles on the same gene, such as with MITF, which has four known alleles. Using n is also common in the results of genetic tests, where a negative result usually means none of the known mutations were found, but does not rule out undiscovered mutations. Melanin Genes affecting coat color generally do so by changing the process of producing melanin. Melanin is the pigment that colors the hairs and skin of mammals. There are two chemically distinct types of melanin: pheomelanin, which is a red to yellow color, and eumelanin, which is brown to black. Melanin is not a protein and therefore there is no gene that changes its structure directly, but there are many proteins involved in the production of melanin or the formation of melanocytes during embryonic development. Mutations that change the structure of proteins with a role in melanin production can result in slightly different variations of melanin. Genes affecting melanocytes, the cells that produce the pigment melanin, do not alter the structure of melanin but instead affect where and whether it is produced. Extension and agouti The genes extension and agouti together affect the placement of the two types of pigment, black eumelanin and "red" (coppery brown) pheomelanin. The extension gene codes for a molecule called the Melanocortin 1 receptor, or MC1R. This receptor straddles the membrane of pigment cells, and when activated it signals the cell to produce black pigment instead of red. A recessive mutation to extension removes this functionality, causing the solid red color of chestnut horses. Extension does not affect skin color. The dominant, wildtype, allele of extension is called E, and the non-extension mutation is called e. Extension is epistatic to agouti, meaning that if a horse has two e alleles, it will be chestnut no matter what genotype it has at agouti. The agouti gene codes for a molecule called the agouti-signaling protein, or ASIP. This molecule interacts with MC1R, the receptor