Rabbits have 6 different pairs of genes that determine coat color. A cloned bunny would have exactly the same 6 sets of genes as the cloned parent. The genes are paired because the rabbit gets 1 gene from each parent. And what the bunny looks like is determined by whichever gene the bunny inherited that is most dominant, or strongest.
The first pair of genes that determines coat color is the "a" genes...each rabbit will have a pair of "a" genes...it gets only 1 from it's mother and 1 from it's father. There are 3 different types of "a" genes. The strongest (or most dominant) gene is the Agouti gene abbreviated by the symbol (A). An agouti(A) rabbit that is chestnut, chin, squirrel, lynx, opal, orange, fawn. All these rabbits have received the Agouti gene (A), from at least 1 parent...it doesn't matter what the 2nd "a" gene is that he inherited. Agouti is always dominant, and if he inherited a recessive (or weaker) gene, it will not show up in his coat color (it is still there) it is overpowered by the dominant Agouti (A) gene. A rabbit may be [A][A], [A][a(t)] or [A][a](***note***I have seperated the pairs of genes by brackets, so that you can see that the rabbit received 1 gene from the mother and one from the father***)...if he is an agouti rabbit, there are no other options. And at least 1 of the bunnies parents must also be an agouti or else the agouti gene would not be available to be passed on. I have heard that to get the best ring color a rabbit should have the [A][A] combination....which means that each parent would have to have been an agouti and that the bunny inherited the agouti gene from each parent. But, I have not found this to be true.
The 2nd "strongest" agouti gene (the gene that is less dominant than the Agouti (A) gene) it the TAN gene abbbreviated a(t). A rabbit that has inherited the tan a(t) gene will be an otter, silver marten, sable marten or smoke pearl marten. A rabbit of this color will have the genetic code a(t)--meaning he inherited the at least one tan gene from one of the parents ...or he could also have inherited this combination of genes [a(t)][a]...he can not be an agouti though...if he had inherited one [A] gene...he would be an agouti and not a tan. The best tan markings on a rabbit is the [a(t)][a(t)] combination..which means both parents had to donate 1 tan gene to the bunny. A rabbit that is the [a(t][a] combination has a poor triangle and lacks the marten ticking. More about the [a] gene...known as the "self" gene and is the most recessive..meaning that if you breed 2 self colored rabbit together, you can be sure that you will only get self colored rabbits...as there is no [a(t)] or [A] gene to make the bunny a tan or an agouti. A self colored rabbit can only be [a][a]...if he had the [a(t)] gene, he'd be a "tan" rabbit, if he had inherited the [A] gene...he'd have been an agouti colored rabbit. A self rabbit is a black, chocolate, blue, lilac, smoke pearl, siamese sable, sable point, tort and himalayan--all these rabbits have inherited the 1 self gene from each parent.
Here is a summary: