DYBRID AND TRIHYBRID INHERITANCE

Monohybrid inheritance deals with the inheritance of one character at a time. By extension,

a monohybrid cross refers to a cross, which involves two varieties that differ in a particular

character. Dihybrid and trihybrid inheritance deal with the inheritance of two and three

characters, respectively. Dihybrid and trihybrid crosses therefore refer to crosses in which

the parental varieties differ in two or three characteristics, respectively.

Predicting inheritance:

'Mendel's principles' and the 'law of product probability' provide the basis for predicting the

outcomes of these crosses. The gametes are formed based on Mendel's principles. The

implication of the first principle is that the alleles of a locus which reside together in the

diploid parent separate and go to gametes (haploid) at equal frequency. A process of

random fertilization between the gametes determine the possible outcomes (genotypes and

their frequency) (phenotypes and their frequencies). Sine male and female gametogenesis

are independent processes, we can apply the law of product probability to determine the

outcome of the crosses.

The law of product probability states that the probability of simultaneous occurrence

of two independent events is given by the product of their individual probabilities.

When we are looking at two or more characters at a time, we need to use Mendel's second

principle as well as the first principle to determine the outcomes. Mendel's second principle

states that each gene segregates independent of each other (random assortment of genes). If

you have a genotype AaBb for instance Gene Aa will produce gametes with 'A' or 'a' alleles

at equal frequency (1/2). Gene Bb will produce gametes 'B' and 'b' at equal frequencies (1/2)

independent of gene A. Again applying the law of product probability we can determine

the frequency of the various gametes AB, Ab, aB, ab. Since male and female
gametogeneses are independent we can again apply the law of product probability to

determine the outcome of the random fertilization event, using a punnett square. This will

tell us what genotypes are produced and at what frequencies.

A similar analysis can be extended to trihybrid or more complex crosses as well. The

branch method provides a convenient means of predicting the outcome of crosses.

Genetic variability and phenotypic variability

With monohybrid inheritance we obtained three genotypes in the F2 generation, with

dihybrid inheritance, nine genotypes in the F2 and trihybrid inheritance, twenty seven

genotypes in the F2 generation. This shows that greater the differences in terms of genes

between the parents greater is the genetic variability in the F2 generation.

There are two things that you would have noticed with respect to the phenotypic variability.

One is that the phenotypic variability is much lower than the genotypic variability,

diminished by the dominance relationships between alleles. And secondly that thephenotypic
variability also increases as the parents used in the crosses differ by more and

more genes.

The following table provides some general formulas to determine the genotypic and

phenotypic variability when the parents differ by 'n' genes.

Table-1: The relationship between number of genes ‘n’ and the number of expected

phenotypes and genotypes in the F2 generation.

TABLE

MONOGENIC, DIGENIC, OLIGOGENIC AND POLYGENIC TRAITS

Up until now we were looking at characteristics that were governed by a single gene, such

as flower colour in peas. These are referred to as monogenic traits. There are some

characteristics that are govened by two genes (digenic traits), or few genes (oligogenic

traits) or many genes, sometimes hundreds of genes (polygenic traits).

The inheritance of monogenic traits would be similar to the monohybrid inheritance, since it

also involves a single gene difference between the parents. Similarly, inheritance of digenic

and trigenic traits would follow those for dihybrid and trihybrid inheritance.

Consequently characters that are governed by many genes would show much more variation

than characters governed by a single gene. Again the same table can be used to predict the

genotypic variability. For instance grain yield in cereals is governed by many genes. This is

why different varieties of rice for instance have different levels of yield. The aim of the

breeder is to accumulate all the genes that govern high yield into one variety