You are on the right track, because you are coming up with some new possible theories about what causes the Cubed pattern.
I have produced many Cubes from a few groups of my Striped Corns and there is no Hypo gene in the groups at all. Many other people have also created the Cubes without the Hypo gene near by, so I do not believe the Hypo gene is causing Stripes to be Cubes or Motleys to be Cubes.
There are always many possibilities to answer how new phenotypes are created genetically. At this time, it seems as if the Cubes are a third allele at the Motley locus. Stripes and Motleys are widely accepted by most as being alleles and it seems as if Motley is dominant over Striped or nearly so. The Cubes seem to have crept into the picture from many Striped and some Motley breedings. Are they a variation of Stripes or Motleys, a variance caused by some secondary factor, or a third independent gene which happens to be located at the Motley locus.
If you breed a Cubed X Motley or Cubed X Striped, you will not get normals, so they are either the same gene as Motley or Striped or a new gene located at the same locus. It is possible that the Cubes are a variation of the Striped gene. If you stretch out and connect the Cubes the Corn will have the general appearance of a Four Lined Striped Corn. Are the Cubes caused by an addition gene combined with Stripes, or are they caused by Stripes missing a gene that connects the Striping the full length of the snake? They could be caused by either scenario, or they could be a third gene located at the Motley locus.
If they are an independent gene located at the Motley locus like the Striped gene is, then any combo of Striped, Cubed, or Motley will not give you a Normal, but a mixed version of the combination of genes depending on how dominant one is over the other.
There are some other variations of the Cubed and Striped patterns. Many Pattern less or Vanishing Corns have came from some lines of Stripes. Are they the normal variation that we can get from Stripes, or is there a secondary cause for these patterns? There is also some “Sunspot” Corns, that seem to be associated with the Cubes. They have small spots in place of the Cubes, with very little other pattern. They are quite attractive.
I do not think we have all of the answers for the genes located at the Motley locus at this time and it may be somewhat difficult to figure out. If all three genes are independent genes located at the Motley locus, we have inadvertently mixed them up pretty good, prior to the Corn World becoming aware of multiple genes located at the same locus like the Amel and Ultra gene are. I think with our new understanding of the possible genetics of our Corns, we will have a better chance at recognizing this new area of genetics that we have been introduced to. Though some combined efforts, and data sharing, we should be able to come up with a very good model for the Motley locus.
I am just as confused, or have many questions, about the Motley locus as I do about the Lavender Group. There are definitely many questions or mysteries about these two genes that that we need some answers to. There seems to be some type of hypoish gene floating around in the Lavender Group, like the Cubes are in the Motley Group. Is this hypoish gene a secondary gene or a new independent gene located at the Lavender Locus?
