Dominant white
Dominant white was one of the first traits in aviculture which proved to be inherited according to the Mendelian laws, when in 1902 Bateson[4] found that the cross of White Leghorns x Indian Games (or its reciprocal) gives F1 chicks with a white or a black spotted ashly white down. And that the F2 gives light and dark chicks in the 3:1 Mendelian proportion, which was confirmed by Hurst in 1905,[5] Bateson and Punnet in 1906[6] and many others. The symbol I (inhibitor of black) to identify this mutation was introduced by Hadley in 1913.[7] Although homozygotes I/I have always a solid white plumage color, heterozygous I/i+ chicks are generally black spotted, while the presence of black or partially black feathers on a whitish adult plumage is very common.
Recessive white
Solid white varieties of Dorkings,
Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Minorcas, Orpingtons and other breeds are regarded as recessive whites because their white is completely recessive to any other color. Both kinds of white plumage: "dominant white" and "recessive white" are phenotypically identical in adult phase, and can only be distinguished from each other by means of a progeny test. In 1906 and 1908 Bateson and Punnet[6][8] demonstrated that White Dorkings are homozygous for an autosomal recessive mutation which prevents appearance of color. They assigned to this mutation the symbol c, as being recessive from the normal allele (C+, chromogen) which allows normal plumage color development. This same kind of white plumage color was found by Bateson and Punnet in Rose Comb Bantam and in White Wyandotte. It was also found in White Cochin by Davenport in 1906,[9] in White Langshan by Goodale in 1910,[10] in White Plymouth Rock by Hadley in 1914,[11] and in other breeds.
"Recessive white" chickens may be potentially black barred or of some other color pattern, but does not reveal this, unless they are submitted to a progeny test. White Plymouth Rock chickens carry a considerable mixture of genes taken from other breeds different to the original Barred Plymouth Rock from which the white variety originates.
Leggere bene tutto qui:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_whit ... en_plumage" target="_blank)
http://www.poultryscience.org/ps/paperp ... s97432.pdf