These guys are totally new to the USA. (I am trying
to be inclusive of Canada, and anyone else in the
Americas who might be interested down the road...)

Technically, there is no 'nwdu' gene. There is the
original downunder gene from Australia, which was
imported in December of 2002 directly from Australia.

In Australia, they do not have dumbos, and so there is
no confusion for the usage of the symbols 'DU' for
their downunder gene.

As of right now, there is some debate as to whether
downunder (DU), not dumbo (du), is an allele at the
hooded locus, found on rat chromosome 14.

So, that is one extremely important reason that we all
work together on this. Establishing the correct
chromosome and locus will be a great task. This is a
dominant gene - it will be difficult to determine
whether this gene is linked or allelic to any of the
American/UK/European genes that *we* have access to.
(If we had laboratory resources, this would probably
be a much easier task!)

Since Australia cannot import any pet rats, they must
work with a much smaller gene pool than what is
available over here. Literally, *all* of their novel
genes are totally new mutations.

This is literally the very first time that anyone in
the world can confirm and test three novel Australian
genes - Aussie mink, Aussie blue, and Aussie red-eyed
dilution. We are testing these genes right now.

I can't even say which area of the world has the most
diverse rat genes. We have been extremely fortunate
to have English and European genes imported through
the years.

But, knowledge is sometimes lost. For example, the
identity of the blues (USA/UK) was confirmed in the
early 1990s. BUT, that knowledge has not been widely
publicized. I am totally surprised to hear anyone ask
whether English blue will breed true with American
blue - absolutely yes, it does.

We will soon find out whether the same holds true for
Aussie blue, and possibly more genes to come...

In the meantime, getting back to what is so special
about this downunder gene???

Off and on, I have done quite a bit of literature
searches specifically on rat coat color genetics. I
have always been quite fascinated by the hooded
series. Think about it - any hooded mice? Hooded
hamsters? Hooded gerbils?

Rats have a goldmine of spotting genes - all on one
locus! Where does the downunder gene fit in??? If it
is truly a separate gene, it could literally be the
very first of its kind, anywhere in the rodent world -
possibly the mammal world.

(I cannot think of any other mammal species that has
any markings like the downunder rat...)

As of right now, we can't even imagine the potential
this gene has for this country. The first litters
have been born - the first litter has been rehomed.

I hope you can share my enthusiasm. =)