In rabbits, assume that the dominant allele (B) produces black fur.

The allele (b)

for white fur is recessive to B. 
 (a) What colour fur will each of the following rabbits have? 
Rabbit 1 = BB = Black rabbit
Rabbit 2 = Bb = Black rabbit, because the B is dominant over b so, the B
phenotype is shown
Rabbit 3 = bB = Black rabbit. bB is the same as Bb but we usually put it like
"Bb", it means the dominant allele goes first
Rabbit 4 = bb = White rabbit
  
  (b) Which of them will breed true?
Breed true means homozygous so, BB and bb are breed true.
 
  (c) Which rabbits are homozygous for coat colour? 
It is practically the same as question (b) so, BB and bb are homozygous for
coat color
 
  (d) If rabbits 1 and 4 were mated together and had 12 babies, how many of
these would you expect to be black? 
They ask us to cross rabbit 1 (BB) with rabbit 4 (bb) so, let's make a Punnett
square:
So, from this cross there are 100% chances to get Bb (black rabbits). As it says
that there are 12 baby rabbits, then all the 12 rabbits will be black.
 
  (e) If rabbits 2 and 3 are interbred and produce several litters, totalling 48
babies, how many white babies would be predicted by the laws of genetics? 
They ask us to cross rabbit 2 (Bb) with rabbit 3 (bB) so, let's make a Punnett
square of the cross Bb x Bb:
We see there is 1/4 chances to get BB, 2/4 chances to get Bb and 1/4 chances to
get bb. It says that we have 48 baby rabbits and they ask us to calculate how
many rabbits will be white. Remember that those with the genotype bb will be
white and the proportion for getting white rabbits is 1/4. Remember that this is a
PROPORTION. As the total number of rabbits is 48, then 48 x 1/4 = 12 rabbits.
So, 12 rabbits will be white.
 
  (f) If rabbits 3 and 4 are mated together on several occasions and have 50
babies altogether,  how many of their babies would you 'expect' to be black? 
They ask us to cross rabbit 3 (bB) with rabbit 4 (bb). Let's make a Punnett square
for Bb x bb:
We see we get 2/4 chances to get Bb and 2/4 chances to get bb.We have 50
baby rabbits and they ask us to calculate how many of them will be black. The
proportion for black rabbits in this cross is 2/4 so, 50 x 2/4 = 25. So, 25 rabbits
from this cross will be black.
 
 
Question #5:
We have the following alleles:
IA = group A allele
IB = group B allele
i = group O allele
ABO group display a codominance pattern. We will have the following genotypes
and phenotypes:
IAIA = Type A blood
IAi = Type A blood
IBIB = Type B blood
IBi = Type B blood
IAIB = Type AB blood (this is why it is called codominance, both alleles express
their phenotypes)
ii = Type O blood

 
 
 
Question #6: 
It says we have two alleles:
Red coat
White coat  
It says that when a calf receives the red coat allele and the white coat allele, it
means this calf is heterozygous, the calf gets a roan color that has equal number
of red and white hairs in its coat.
(a) It is an example of CODOMINANCE. 
 
(b) Incomplete dominance occurs when the heterozygocity produces a third
phenotype that is a blend of the two other genotypes (in this case it would be a
blend between red and white). Codominance occurs when the hterozygocity
produces a phenotype that has BOTH traits, in this case both red and
white, in this case the cattle would have both white and red spots...this is
why it is an example of codominance and not incomplete dominance.
 
(c) One example of codominance in humans is the ABO blood group. We
have the IA and IB alleles...we can have IAIA or IAi that gives type A blood, or IBIB or
IBi that give the type B group and when we have IAIB we get type AB blood, it
means both type A and type B are present.
 
One example of incomplete dominance in humans is familial
hypercholesterolemia. When the person has two mutant alleles, the person has
the disease, however if the person has only 1 mutant allele, then they will still
have the disease but in a milder way. So, it causes three phenotypes: 
- Homozygous for the healthy allele= Healthy
   - Homozygous for the mutant allele = Severe disease
- Heterozygous = Milder disease
 
Question #7:
Give three examples of human disorders which are caused by the action of a
single pair of alleles. In each case say whether the harmful allele is dominant or
recessive to the non-harmful allele. 
1. Marfan's syndrome: It is an autosomal dominant disease where the
mutant allele is DOMINANT over the healthy allele.
2. Tay Sachs disease: it is an autosomal recessive disease where the mutant
allele is RECESSIVE to the healthy allele
3. Huntington disease: it is an autosomal dominant disease where the
mutant allele is DOMINANT over the healthy allele
 
Question #8:
In humans, maleness or femaleness is determined by a pair of sex chromosomes
called X and Y. 
  (a) What is the genotype for males? : 
The genotype for males is XY, they only have 1 X chromosome
 
  (b) What is the genotype for females?  
The genotype is XX, they have two X chromosomes
 
Question #9: 
 (a) In humans, is it the sperm or the ovum which determines the sex of the
offspring? 
It is the sperm
  (b) Give a reason for your answer. 
The sperm determines the sex of the offspring. Remember that the genotype for
a gene is made of two alleles, for example Aa or AA or Bb or cc, etc., this is the
same for sex chromosomes, it means we have XX and XY. Remember that one
allele comes from the mother and one allele comes from the father. As the
mother has the genotype XX, then she can only transmit X chromosomes,
however the father has both X and Y chromosomes so, he can transmit either the
X or the Y chromosome. The fetus will always have the X_ genotype because it
will ALWAYS receive X chromosomes from the mother, but if the sperm from the
father transmits his X chromosome, then we will have XX and the fetus will
become a female, but if the sperm from the father transmits his Y chromosome,
then we will have XY and the fetus will become a male
  
 
Question #10:
In fruit flies, the allele (n) for ebony (black) body is recessive to the allele (N) for
normal (grey) body. 
  (a) Complete the Punnett square, for a cross between normal (grey-bodied) flies
which are heterozygous for this allele (i.e. Nn genotypes). 
It says to cross Nn x Nn so:
The Punnett square is above.
  (b) State the expected proportion of normal and ebony-bodied flies in a large
sample of the offspring. 
According to the Punnett square, we can give the following proportion ratio for
this cross:
3:1, it means 3 normal (grey) body to 1 ebony body, it means if there is a
population of 400 flies from this cross, 300 will be grey (3/4 x 400 = 300) and 100
will be ebony (1/4 x 400 = 100)
 
  (c) State the proportion of the normal phenotypes which would be true
breeding. 
As you can see in the Punnett square, out of the NORMAL PHENOTYPE, 1 out
of 3 will be true-breeding. Remember that the normal phenotype is NN and
Nn...in the Punnett square we got 1 NN and 2 Nn, it means a total of 3, but out of
3, only one is true breeding (NN).
 
Question #11:
 When a particular gene is said to be 'sex-linked', on which chromosome is that
gene usually present? 
   When a gene is said to be SEX-LINKED, it means the gene is at either the X or
the Y chromosome, but it is usually carried on the X chromosome and is
absent from the Y chromosome.
 
Question #12:
The genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) is caused by a recessive allele (n).
The family tree below shows the incidence of the disease over three generations.
(I found the family tree in a lab):
  
 (a) What can you deduce about the genotypes of the grandparents?
We can deduce that the genotypes of the grandparents are is Nn, it means
both of them are heterozygous or carriers
 
  (b) Explain your reasoning. 
ALWAYS remember that the genotype for a gene is made of two alleles and
each allele came from each parent (one from the mother and one from the
father). If you have the genotype Aa, it means you inherited the A allele from one
parent and the a allele from the other parent.As you can see in the pedigree,
Jane's genotype is nn, because she has PKU, however her parents are
apparently healthy...as this disease is autosomal recessive, then the parents can
be 100% healthy (NN) or carriers (Nn), but as we mentioned before, both parents
need to transmit one "n" allele to Jane because she has the disease so, the
parents can't be NN, but Nn or nn, but as they don't have the disease, then they
can't be nn. So, their genotype is "Nn" and you have to remember this always
when you talk about autosomal recessive dsieases, when you have an affected
child and healthy parents, it means both parents are carriers.
 
  (c) What is the genotype of Jane's husband? 
Jane's husband genotype is "Nn"
 
  (d) Explain your reasoning. 
As Jane and her husband have an affected daughter (nn), then it means one "n"
from the daughter came from Jane and the other "n" allele came from Jane's
husband so, Jane's husband must have at least one "n" allele and as he does not
have the disease, then his genotype is Nn
 
  (e) What are the chances that Peter is the carrier of the PKU allele that resulted
in his having an affected son? 
As both grandparents have the genotype Nn, then let's make a Punnett square of
the cross Nn x Nn:

They ask us the chances that Peter is a carrier, and according to the Punnett
square above, from a cross between two Nn, there are 2/4 chances to have a
carrier child. 2/4 is the same as 1/2 and if you divide, it is the same as 0,5 and if
you want in percentage, you just multiply by 100 and get 50%. So, the probs for
Peter to be a carrier is 0,5.

 
  (f) If Jane had been normal, what are the possible genotypes of the
grandparents? 
If jane had been normal, then all Peter, Alan and Jane would be apparently
healthy, however we know that Peter is a carrier because he has an affected
son, so it means that at least one grandparent should have one "n" allele. Also,
remember that by Jane being normal, it means she can be either NN or Nn. So
the possible genotypes for the grandparents are:

1. NN x Nn
2. Nn x Nn

Because from both crosses we have chances to get carriers (Nn) in the offspring
and remember we need to get probs to get a carrier from this cross because
Peter is a carrier. Let's check:
As you can see, from both crosses you can get carriers in the offspring (Peter).
NN x NN is NOT an answer because from this cross we get only NN in the
ofspring and getting a child with Nn like Peter would be imposible.
 
  (g) Is it possible that the allele for PKU is sex-linked?  
NO, IT ISN'T. If the condition was sex-linked, it would mean that the mutation is
at the X chromosome and that males can't be carriers because they only have 1
X chromosome. Also, it couldn't be sex-linked dominant because there can't be
carriers in dominant conditions and this wouldn't fit in the grandparent's genotype
because they NEED to be carriers in order to have a daughter with the
disease( Jane)...so, this is not sex-linked dominant.
In sex-linked recessive, males can't be carriers neither because they only have 1
X chromosome, it means they need only their unique X chromosome to get the
disease. In the case of females, they need two mutated X chromosomes to show
the disease and this DOES NOT fit with the pedigree because as you can see,
Jane has the disease it means she needs two mutated X chromosomes, where
one can come from the grandmother (she can be a carrier), but the grandfather
CAN'T transmit a X chromosome because he does not have the disease so,
Jane can have a MAXIMUM of 1 mutated X chromosome, it means she can be
either healthy or a carrier, but she can't have the disease if this condition would
be sex-linked recessive.
So, PKU can't be sex-linked.
 
 
Question #13:
One form of colour-blindness is a sex-linked inherited condition controlled by a
recessive allele. Use the symbols X and Y for the sex chromosomes and N and n
for the alleles for  normal or defective colour vision to show the genotypes of:
  (a) a normal male              (d) a colour-blind female 
  (b) a colour-blind male         (e) a normal (carrier) female. 
  (c) a normal (non-carrier) female 
Let's first name the alleles and genotypes with phenotypes:
Alleles:
XN = normal X chromosome
Xn = defective X chromosome
XNXN = normal woman
XNXn = carrier woman
XnXn = colorblind woman
XNY = normal man
XnY = colorblind man
Let's now show the phenotypes they ask us:
  (a) a normal male:         XNY      
  (b) a colour-blind male  XnY       
  (c) a normal (non-carrier) female XNXN
(d) a colour-blind female XnXn
(e) a normal (carrier) female. XNXn
 
Question #14:
Use the genotypes you have written for your answer to question 13 to show the
chances of  (a) a son being colour blind (b) a daughter being a carrier, resulting
from a marriage  between a normal man and a carrier woman. 
So, we have a cross between a normal man (XNY) and a carrier woman (XNXn).
Let's make a Punnett square:

a) a son being colour blind 

The chances to get a son are 1/2 because you have to get a son from a son and
a daughter. From the sons, according to the Punnett square, you have 1/2
chances to get a colorblind son (from XNY and XnY) so, 1/2 x 1/2 is 1/4 or 0,25.
So, the chances to get a colorblind son is 0,25.
 
(b) a daughter being a carrier
We have 1/2 chances to get a daughter and not a son. From daughters, we have
1/2 chances to get a carrier daughter (from XNXN and XNXn according to the
Punnett square) so, the chances to get a carrier daughter is 1/2 x 1/2 = 1/4 or
0,25.