Ashen, a new color mutation on chromosome 9 of the mouse

Ashen, a new recessive color mutation in the mouse, is described. It dilutes the coat color by affecting the shape of the melanocytes. The dendrites of ashen mice like those of leaden and dilute are smaller and thinner than those of non-ashen mice and the pigment granules are concentrated in the main body of the cell. Ashen has no significant effect on the activity levels of 11 liver lysosomal enzymes. Linkage tests show that it is on Chr 9 close to dilute and indicate that the most probable order of the four loci is Lap-I—14—Sep-I—22—ash—8—Mod-I.