Sorry it’s taken me so long to answer - I seem to have come down with the flu and have been clinging to my bed for a couple of days. But, hey, I’m a Doper, so I’ve crawled from my death-bed to further the fight against ignorance! 
Okay, John, I’ve had to look some stuff up in order to try to give you some good answers. I’d like to mention that feline genetics is in its infancy - until recently there has not been a lot of motivation to fund extensive research in this area. A lot of what we know about color genetics and such has been derived from test breedings by various scientific professionals who also happen to be interested in breeding cats.
Hmm, I keep trying to post some links and every time I do it screws up the post. I’m going to try to post the links in a following post and see what happens.
Briefly, a portion of the ear called the stria vascularis contains melanocytes whose function are unknown but are apparently essential. The genes that cause white coat coloring in some cats and dogs do so by interfering in various degrees with melanocyte production during early embryo formation. If melanocytes do not migrate to this portion of the inner ear during embryonic formation, the inner ear will begin to degenerate shortly after birth, usually resulting in complete deafness within a few weeks. This is the type of deafness commonly seen in Dalmation dogs.
In cats, the genes known to create white coat hair in this manner are ‘dominant white’(W) and ‘white spotting’(S). ‘W’ results in a completely white cat, while ‘S’ normally allows varying degrees of pigmentation. Deafness in ‘S’ cats is pretty rare, as one of the last areas to lose pigmentation is the top of the head. Deafness occurs most often in ‘W’ cats with blue eyes (BEWs - blue-eyed whites) because the blue irises are due to lack of pigmentation, and if pigment cells failed to migrate to the eyes, they are more likely to have failed to reach the ears, also. However, ‘W’ cats with normal-colored eyes can also be deaf, and ‘odd-eyed’ cats - those with one blue eye and one normal colored eye - may be deaf only in one ear, on the same side as the blue eye.
This has been compared to Waardenburg’s Syndrome in humans, but as far as I know no connection has yet been established. The similarities ARE eerie, though.
Anyway, it’s not that the melanocytes do anything besides produce pigment needed for the inner ear - the problem is that without those melanocytes, the inner ear will degenerate and cease functioning!
And I can’t answer you question about which genes are responsible, because as far as I can tell no one knows yet! I’ll have to do some research at PubMed and such to see if anything has recently been published - I think we can expect to see some major advancements in knowledge about feline genetics very soon, partly because of the on-going Feline Genome Project, and partly because researchers are discovering that feline and human genetics are very, very similar. Domestic cats are already very popular research subjects because of certain similarities to humans - the brain structure is very close, for example. And certain feline abnormalities - such as the deafness discussed here and the dwarfism seen in Munchkin cats - may be very helpful in learning more about similar or identical human conditions.
David Cronan, pigmented skin under the hair is common - whether it is there or not may depend on underlying modifier genes. But two-toned pawpads are common on cats with any white markings, because the pawpads are pigmented. In this case it is just an extension of the pigmentation visible in the hair - if the pawpads had hair, the black ones would have black hair and the pink ones would have either orange or white hair. Another little goody I’ll stick in here - pawpad and nose leather color are important characteristics cat breeders use to determine the true genotype of their cats.
And you’re correct, a female cat is called a ‘queen’. ‘Dam’ simply means that you are referring to the female parent of pretty much any animal, just as ‘sire’ means you are referring to the male parent. As far as I know, this is universally used across all species when discussing parentage. It’s just the accepted way of saying ‘mother’.
hazel-rah, as far as good books on cat genetics, Robinson’s is ‘the Bible’. I’m not suprised that your library doesn’t have it, though, because it’s not something a lot of people are interested in. The latest edition only came out in 1999 so there aren’t going to be a lot of used ones available, but you might check on e-Bay and/or have Amazon or someone put you on a waiting list for a used one. New ones cost $65.00! Gloria Stephens has a new book out called Legacy of the Cat, Volume II (I think - anyway, there are two editions, one brand new). It’s more of a coffee-table type book with lots of pics by a world famous Japanese cat photographer, but also has a lot of good genetic info. Another good book is Feline Husbandry: Diseases and Management in the Multiple-Cat Environment by Dr. Niels C. Pedersen, one of the foremost feline researchers in the world. That’s another pricey book! It is supposed to be out of print, but you can get one at http://www.revivalanimal.com Oh, and you might really like a book called The Domestic Cat: The biology of its behavior, edited by Dennis C. Turner & Patrick Bateson. I found my copy at Amazon - I can’t remember the price, but seems like it was about $20.00. I have to order a new copy, as my cats got hold of mine and ‘behaved’ all over it. But it is absolutely fascinating!
You might see if your library can ‘borrow’ books from other libraries. Or see if you can buy the book, then donate it to the library and deduct it from your taxes!
OxyMoron, I can’t give you a definitive, by-the-book answer, just the conclusions I’ve reached from years of working with, and associating with other breeders of, the wild-hybrid breeds. Many cat fanciers will disagree and claim that everything is due to early socialization, but working with cats that are not purely domestic provides a unique viewpoint.
Bear in mind that domestic cats have not been bred selectively for thousands of years, as have dogs. Cats seem to have become domesticated accidentally by hanging around human habitations once we started storing food that attracted rodents. Organized cat breeding - the ‘cat fancy’ - didn’t really start until about 100 years ago, and focused mainly on preserving different body types, hair lengths, and colors.
Domestic cats have not been selectively bred for temperament (until recently), although the ability to tolerant other members of their species and others (like humans) created a sort of natural selection process. Degrees of ‘socialibility’ vary a great deal from individual to individual. ‘One-person’ cats are, in my opinion, cats that have inherited a temperament very close to that of their wild ancestors, who are more solitary by nature. It is difficult for these cats to be comfortable in ‘crowds’ - they are able to form a close relationship with one person, but their ‘hard-wiring’ makes it difficult or impossible for them to do more than grudgingly tolerate any additional people or animals.
This can be exacerbated by the conditions in which they are reared and live most of their lives. If they are taken from their mother at a very young age (many people think 6 weeks is appropriate - it’s NOT) and from that time forward live with only one or two people without much outside contact (and most of that comprising trips to the vet, not usually a happy experience) they do not develop any social skills, nor any tolerance for strangers. A cat that was raised in this manner but inherited a ‘domestic’ personality may adjust and even thrive in a new situation, while one with the original ‘wild-type’ personality may not. I’ve heard of cats that actually ‘pined away’ after their owner died because they could not make the adjustment.
And if you’re all really nice to me, I’ll tell you why Siamese (and all other blue-eyed pointed cats) are different from other cats! 
But me and my buddy the flu need to take a break and be miserable together for a little while.