Abstract. The coat colour of animals is an extremely important trait that affects their behaviour and is decisive
for survival in the natural environment. In farm animal breeding, as a result of the selection of a certain coat
colour type, animals are characterized by a much greater variety of coat types. This makes them an appropriate
model in research in this field. A very important aspect of the coat colour types of farm animals is distinguishing between breeds and varieties based on this trait. Furthermore, for the sheep breeds which are kept for skins
and wool, coat/skin colour is an important economic trait. Until now the study of coat colour inheritance in
sheep proved the dominance of white colour over pigmented/black coat or skin and of black over brown. Due
to the current knowledge of the molecular basis of ovine coat colour inheritance, there is no molecular test to
distinguish coat colour types in sheep although some are available for other species, such as cattle, dogs, and
horses. Understanding the genetic background of variation in one of the most important phenotypic traits in
livestock would help to identify new genes which have a great effect on the coat colour type. Considering that
coat colour variation is a crucial trait for discriminating between breeds (including sheep), it is important to
broaden our knowledge of the genetic background of pigmentation. The results may be used in the future to
determine the genetic pattern of a breed. Until now, identified candidate genes that have a significant impact on
colour type in mammals mainly code for factors located in melanocytes. The proposed candidate genes code
for the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R), agouti signaling protein (ASIP), tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1),
microphthalmia-associated transcription factor MITF, and v-kit Hardy–Zuckerman 4 feline sarcoma viral oncogene homologue (KIT). However, there is still no conclusive evidence of established polymorphisms for specific
coat colour types in sheep