【Abstract】Objective To evaluate the effect of RNA expression level of tyrosinase family on rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) coat and iris colour. Methods RNA were extracted and RNA expression level of Tyr, Tyrp1, and Dct were examined in skin and iris of 48 rabbits from 4 breeds including WHBE, JW rabbit, Rex rabbit and Chinchilla rabbit. Results Tyr expression in the iris of WHBE and Chinchilla rabbits significantly increased, as did Tyrp1 expression in the skin of Chinchilla rabbits. No significant different were found between the 3 genes in the other tissues. Conclusion Our results indicated the gene expression levels of Tyr1 in dark skin tissue were significantly higher than that in white one. Gene expression levels of Tyr in dark iris tissue were significantly higher than that in colourless iris.