The genome of an Internet star
The genome of the famous cat Lil Bab has been studied
A group of geneticists from Germany and the USA sequenced the complete genome of the famous cat Lil Bab (Lil Bub), which became popular due to its unusual appearance. Scientists have identified mutations that gave Lil Bab her appearance. There were two mutations, and the authors of the work note the unusual fact that one cat had two rather rare anomalies at once.
An unusual kitten was born in rural Indiana in June 2011. He had a number of congenital anomalies: extra fingers, unusually short limbs and a tongue constantly sticking out of his mouth. Mike Bridavsky found out about him when he was approached by friends who were looking for an owner for a kitten that no one wanted to take. Mike posted the first photos of Lil Bab on Twitter in November 2011. Unexpectedly, the features of the cat, which scared off potential owners, attracted the attention of Internet users to it.
Lil Bab has become popular. She received more than two million likes on Facebook, took part in several TV shows, became the hero of a book and a documentary. Her images on souvenirs are in demand, and Mike Bridavsky donates part of the profits to help homeless animals. As a result, Mike and Lil Bab have already raised more than 300 thousand dollars for charity.
Fundraising campaign for Experiment.com brought eight thousand dollars, which allowed the sequencing of the genome of Lil Bab. The initiators of this project were scientists who wanted to find out the reasons for the unique appearance of the cat. As a result, they were able to detect two main genetic anomalies. One of them occurred at a DNA site that serves as a “switch” of the Sonic hedgehog gene associated with the development of fingers. A similar mutation exists in the famous Hemingway cats. In 1935, a sailor friend gave the writer a Maine Coon cat named Snow White with six toes. Such cats were popular among sailors, as it was believed that extra fingers helped them catch mice better. The offspring of Hemingway's cats still live in the writer's Florida house in Key West, which has become a museum. Now out of more than fifty cats, about half have extra fingers.
Another mutation of Lil Bab turned out to be rarer. It occurred in the TNFRSF11A gene and caused osteopetrosis in the cat – a disease in which the density of bone tissue becomes uneven due to imbalance between osteoblasts - cells that form bone, and osteoclasts that destroy it. The result is increased bone fragility and skeletal deformities: in the case of Lil Bab, these are abnormally short legs. Osteopetrosis as a genetically determined disease is also known in humans. Such a mutation was noted earlier in mice, but it was described for the first time among cats.
The results of the study are presented on bioRxiv.org
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