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Geneticsprobs 1
Geneticsprobs 1
Answers to these problems will be posted next week. You are encouraged to work
through the problems first before you look up the answers. Try to work on the
problems in small groups.
1. We know that the most common form of color blindness results from an X-
linked recessive gene. A couple with normal color vision has a daughter with
normal vision and a son who is color-blind. What is the probability that the
daughter is a carrier for the color-blindness allele? In other words, what is
the probability that the daughter is heterozygous for the trait?
2. In the pedigree below, the shaded symbols represent people affected with a
neurological disorder caused by an X-linked recessive allele. Let’s call the
normal allele D and the recessive allele d. What are the genotypes of every
person in this pedigree?
4. In Shorthorn cattle, both red coat color and white coat color are true breeding.
Crosses of red cattle x white cattle produce offspring that are uniformly
reddish brown but thickly sprinkled with white hairs. This type of coat color
is called roan. Crosses of roan x roan produce 1/4 red : 1/2 roan: 1/4 white.
What kind of genetic inheritance can explain these results?
BI 164 Spring, 2008
5. The tailless trait in the mouse results from an allele of a gene on chromosome
17. A cross of tailless x tailless mice produces tailless and wildtype offspring
in a ratio of 2 tailless: 1 wildtype. All tailless offspring from this cross when
mated with wildtype produce a 1: 1 ratio of tailless to wildtype.
9. Continuing with jimsonweed, spiny pods (S) are dominant to smooth (s).
Consider pod shape and flower color together, using the symbols P and p for
purple and white flowers. The genes are on different chromosomes. What
mix of phenotypes would you expect from the following crosses? See if you
can answer the questions using probabilities rather than constructing Punnett
squares.
a. PP ss x pp SS d. Pp Ss x Pp ss
b. Pp SS x pp ss e. Pp Ss x Pp Ss
BI 164 Spring, 2008
c. Pp Ss x Pp SS f. Pp Ss x pp ss
10. For the following pedigree, which of the following mechanisms can explain
the pattern of inheritance of the trait shown in the affected individuals (the
dark symbols). Assume the condition is caused by a single gene. Which
mechanism do you think is the most likely?
a. Autosomal dominant
b. Autosomal recessive
c. X-linked dominant
d. X-linked recessive