Various traits in rabbits were reported to inherit according to a linkage relation among loci. A review study focused on Albinism and Dominant White Spotting loci

The beginnings of linked inheritance are found in experiments conducted by Thomas Hunt Morgan with vinegar-fly. The tendency of various loci located on the same chromosome to show linkage was studied in different species of mammals, especially in those with a short period of gestation and a large number of descendants in each litter. A graphically relationship of the r locus (red-eyed yellow) between the loci c (albinism) and p (pink-eyed yellow) was firstly concluded in rats. In rabbits, the first linked relationship was reported on assumed chromosome I among loci for albinism, yellow fat, and brown coat. The second reported linked inheritance referred to the loci for Dutch white spotting (Du), English white spotting (En), and long (angora) hair (l). In past decades, various genes were associated with important loci described in Classical Genetic' studies. For example, the fgf5 gene was found as a molecular candidate for the angora locus and the KIT gene for the spotting pattern in various species of animals. Although in mouse and other species the KIT gene was associated with deafness, in rabbits such of association was not reported. Instead, mutations of KIT gene are associated in rabbits with Congenital Megacolon. The aim of this paper is to review various reports about the linkage phenomenon in rabbits, focused on albinism and white spotting genes.