FaunaClassifieds - View Single Post - Can someone cogently describe the tyrosinase + condition?
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Old 08-21-2005, 03:57 PM   #1
CherryFive
Can someone cogently describe the tyrosinase + condition?

I've been reading a little lately, and i just recently got my albino bloods so I'm more curious than ever. What does T+ albinism truly define? Why is it considered to be lacking black pigment when the pupils are visibly black? Obviously it truly does lack black coloration, but the pupils/retinas have me wondering. This is what I read at the Barker's website...

A t+ albino snake is able to create tyrosinase, and then can accomplish the first two steps of melanin synthesis. But a t+ albino is lacking a necessary enzyme for one of the subsequent steps. There is a different enzyme for each step, but which enzyme is defective is not specified

So is it true that we don't really know what T+ actually is? I would just like some kind of confirmation, or other opinions. The barkers identify that tyrosine eventually turns into dopaquinone after two steps which is just a "black compound" so is this why the T+ pupils are black, as opposed to that T- albino bunny I just saw, whose eyes and pupils were completely pink? Interesting stuff...
John