Gene Abbreviation Key

Up front, I want to be clear that the peafowl genome has NOT been properly mapped; the wild type has been sequenced by researchers, but the mutations are completely unresearched at current. We know some things (like which genes are autosomal and which are sex-linked, which are dominant vs recessive), and we can infer other things (like that white and pied are alleles, that bronze and opal aren't on the same chromosome) due to practical breeding results, but without proper mapping, we don't know exact locations of any of the genes, and we don't have "official" gene designations. As such, this guide will be using gene notation derived from the common/colloquial names of the mutations. These may change someday, when we get real gene names, so try to be flexible in your learning.

You designate a separation between two genes on the SAME locus by using a forward slash (/) - ie, br/br to designate bronze. The forward slash does not need to be used if the genes match (ie, brbr to designate bronze), but it should be used if they do not, namely to designate heterozygous "splits" (ie, WT/br to designate blue split bronze) and non-matching alleles like white and pied (ie, W/p to designate pied phenotype, though I honestly leave this out often).

You designate a separation between two genes on DIFFERENT loci by using a colon (:) - ie, br/br:bs/bs to designate blackshoulder bronze. This one isn't optional, you WILL get confused/lose your place without it.

In some cases, WT will NOT be noted in the parent birds, only in the offspring. Remember that wild type is not a color or a pattern, it is a default. However, while you are still learning, it is useful to write it out every time.

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Gene Abbreviations

Normal Autosomal Color
Blue/Wild Type -- WT or IB

Bronze -- b
Charcoal -- ch
Jade -- j
Midnight -- md
Montana -- mo
Opal -- o
Steel -- st
Ultramarine -- um

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Sex-linked Color
**Sex-linked genes will be written with parenthesis around the color mutation attached to the sex chromosome (ie: Z(pl) or Z(pl:c)). Anything inside the parenthesis cannot be separated from the Z to which it is attached nor from the other gene(s) inside the parenthesis with it.
Cameo -- Z(c)
Purple -- Z(pl)
Sonja's Violeta -- Z(va)
Violet (EU) -- Z(ve)

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Patterns
Barred Wing -- WT or IB
Blackshoulder -- bs
Brown Wing -- bw

Leucistic Mutations
White -- W
Pied -- p
White-eye - We
Silver White-eye -- SWe

The rest of the known colors are some combination of these genes, not separate, unique genes of their own. For example, platinum is bronze + opal, and peach is cameo + purple.

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Phenotype Notations

The following are gene pairs that represent phenotypes, as examples. I've left out the / because they match and it's not necessary, but you can leave it in if it helps you learn

Wild Type -- WTWT

Autosomal Only
Bronze -- brbr
Charcoal -- chch
Jade -- jj
Midnight -- mdmd
Montana -- momo
Opal -- oo
Steel -- stst

Sex-linked Only
Cameo MaleZ(c)Z(c),  Cameo Hen Z(c)w
Purple Male Z(pl)Z(pl), Purple Hen Z(pl)w
Violeta Male Z(va)Z(va), Violeta Hen Z(va)w
EU Violet Male Z(ve)Z(ve), EU Violet hen Z(ve)w

Leucistic
White -- WW
Pied -- W/p
Dark Pied -- pp
White eye -- WeWe
Silver pied - W/p:SWeSWe

Patterns
Barred Wing/Wild Wing -- WTWT
Blackshoulder -- bsbs
Brown wing -- bwbw

Polygenic Phenotypes

Hazel/Indigo -- brbr:Z(pl)Z(pl), brbr:Z(pl)w
Ivory -- oo:Z(c)Z(c), oo:Z(c)w
Mocha -- mdmd:Z(pl)Z(pl), mdmd:Z(pl)w
Peach -- Z(pl:c)Z(pl:c), Z(pl:c)w
Platinum -- brbr:oo
Taupe -- oo:Z(pl)Z(pl), oo:Z(pl)w

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To note a single "gene" for these, you need one gene from each side of the colon, like this:

Hazel/Indigo -- br:Z(pl)
Ivory -- o:Z(c)
Mocha -- md:Z(pl)
Peach -- Z(pl:c)
Platinum -- o:br
Taupe -- o:Z(pl)