Inheritance
Lavender foal syndrome is most commonly thought to be created by a recessive gene. When a horse is heterozygous for the gene, it is a carrier, but perfectly healthy and has no symptoms at all. If two carriers are bred together, however, classic Mendelian genetics indicate that there is a 25% chance of any given mating producing a foal that is homozygous for the gene, and hence affected by the disease. It is theorized, though not yet tested, that LFS may also be somehow linked to another genetic disease that affects Egyptian-related Arabians, juvenile epilepsy. This theory has been raised because of a small number of horses who have produced both LFS and epileptic foals.
LFS is one of six genetic diseases known to affect horses of Arabian bloodlines. There are genetic diseases that affect other horse breeds, including different coat dilution lethals, such as lethal white syndrome. In addition, the color white in horses, when created by certain alleles of "dominant white" (W) gene, may possibly be fatal if homozygous.
Read more about this topic: Lavender Foal Syndrome
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