Mottle or mottling is the appearance of uneven spots. It is commonly used to describe plants or the skin of animals. In plants, mottling usually consists of yellowish spots on plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

s, and is usually a sign of disease or malnutrition. Many plant viruses cause mottling, some examples being:

• Tobacco vein mottling virus
  Tobacco vein mottling virus
  Tobacco vein mottling virus is a plant pathogenic virus of the family Potyviridae.-External links:**...
  
  
• Bean pod mottle virus
  Bean pod mottle virus
  Bean pod mottle virus is a plant pathogenic virus of the family Comoviridae.-External links:**...
  
  

Mottling is sometimes used to describe uneven discolored patches on the skin of humans as a result of cutaneous ischemia (lowered blood flow to the surfaces of the skin) or Herpes zoster

Herpes zoster

Herpes zoster , commonly known as shingles and also known as zona, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a limited area on one side of the body, often in a stripe...

 infections. In animals, mottling may be a sign of disease, but may also be a hereditary trait, such as seen with the champagne

Champagne gene

The champagne gene is a simple dominant allele responsible for a number of rare horse coat colors. The most distinctive traits of horses with the champagne gene are the hazel eyes and pinkish, freckled skin, which are bright blue and bright pink at birth, respectively...

 and leopard complex

Leopard complex

The leopard complex is a group of genetically-related coat patterns in horses. These patterns range from progressive increases in interspersed white hair similar to graying or roan to distinctive, Dalmatian-like leopard spots on a white coat. Secondary characteristics associated with the leopard...

 genes in horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

s.

Mottles can also refer to discoloration in processed food, such as butter.

In geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

, mottled refers to a patchy/blotch texture of alteration or interbedding, commonly found in limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 and commonly caused by bioturbation

Bioturbation

In oceanography, limnology, pedology, geology , and archaeology, bioturbation is the displacement and mixing of sediment particles and solutes by fauna or flora . The mediators of bioturbation are typically annelid worms , bivalves In oceanography, limnology, pedology, geology (especially...

.