MITF and osteopetrosis: The plumage colour of the "white" and "silver" Japanese quail was found previously to be associated with changes in the sequence of MITF in two different regions of the coding sequence, but the change that affects MITF activity has not yet been determined [3], and, apart from osteopetrosis [7], other phenotypic effects associated with the mutation have not yet been studied in Coturnix. In Gallus, MITF has been sequenced [8] but no associated plumage colour variation has been reported so far.