Exercise No.

7
Non-Mendelian Inheritance

I. Objectives:
At the end of the exercise, the students should be able to:
1. define the different types of Non-Mendelian inheritance;
2. explain and give different examples of the different types of non-Mendelian
inheritance; and
3. solve different problems regarding non-Mendelian inheritance.

II. Procedures:
1. Watch the YouTube video regarding non-Mendelian inheritance: Incomplete Dominance
and Codominance: (Genetics – Exception to Mendelism – Lesson 7:
https://youtu.be/n_Ke_9JYvKs); and for Linked Inheritance
(https://youtu.be/h2xufrHWG3E) to answer the different questions in Observation Part of
this exercise.
2. Using the table below, answer the following questions in Observation Number 3.
Blood Type Can Donate Blood Can Receive Blood
Genotype
(Phenotype) to from
A AA or AO AB, A O, A
B BB or BO AB, B O, B
A, B, AB, or O
AB AB AB
(universal receiver)
A, B, AB, or O
O OO O
(universal donor)
3. Solve following problems involving Non-Mendelian Inheritance in Observation Number
4.

III. Observations:
1. Using the videos in Procedure # 1, fill out the table below.
Incomplete Sex Linked
Codominance
Dominance inheritance
The dominant It is a type of
Both the dominant
character expresses inheritance that
alleles are equally
itself, but not are specifically
strong and thus
completely. The in sex
Definition expressed in the
dominant allele do chromosomes
offspring
not completely mask and tends to be
simultaneously in the
the effect of the in X
heterozygote.
recessive allele, chromosome
 hence, the because it is
intermediate larger than in
character or the Y
phenotype of the chromosome.
offspring is
obtained.
What is the other
term for that type of Partial Dominance Sex-Linked
Mutual Dominance
Non-Mendelian or Semi-Dominance Inheritance
Inheritance?
Usual genotypic
1:2:1 1:2:1 1:1:1:1
ratio
Usual phenotypic
1:2:1 1:2:1 1:1:1:1
ratio
Typical example of
this type of Non-
Mendelian Hair Type Blood Typing Hemophilia
Inheritance in
humans
Description of this
type of Non-
Mendelian Excellent Models for
Roan Coat Color Hemizygosity
inheritance in Genetic Studies
animals who exhibits
it.

2. Illustrate and explain briefly the different types of Non-Mendelian inheritance.

a. Incomplete Dominance
 •The resulting offspring has a pink color trait despite the dominant red color
and white color trait due to incomplete dominance. The dominant allele
does not mask the recessive allele resulting in a phenotype different from
both alleles. The incomplete dominance carries genetic importance because
it explains the fact of the intermediate existence of phenotype from two
different alleles.
b. Codominance

• Both Antigens A and B serves as the dominant allele in the ABO Blood
Type system and Antigen O serves as the recessive allele. Blood Group AB
happens when the individual inherited the A allele from one parent, and B
allele from other, then the genotype will be the Antigen AB, or the
codominance of Antigens A and B.
c. Multiple Alleles

• It occurs because some traits are controlled by more than two alleles and
this are controlled by multiple alleles produces more than three phenotypes.

3. Write the genotype of each person based on the following descriptions:

a. Homozygous for the “B” allele BB
b. Heterozygous for the “A” allele AO
c. Type O OO
d. Type “A” individual and had a Type “O” parent AO
e. Type AB AB
 f. Blood that can donated to anybody OO
g. Can only get blood from a Type O donor OO

4. Solve following problems involving Non-Mendelian Inheritance:

a. In fruit flies, eye color is a sex-linked trait. Red is dominant to white.
(a) What are the sexes and eye colors of the flies with the following genotypes?
XRXr female, red XRXR female, red
XRY _male, red XrY male, white
XrXr _female, white
(b) Show the cross of a white-eyed female with a red-eyed male.

Xr Xr

XR XRXr XRXr

Y XrY XrY

b. In 1968, two parents think that their baby was switched at the hospital. In that year,
DNA fingerprint technology does not exist yet. The mother has a blood type O and
the father has a blood type AB, and the baby’s blood type is B.
(a) What is the mother’s genotype? OO
(b) What is the father’s genotype? AB
(c) What is the two possible baby’s genotype? BB, BO
(d) Show the possible genotypes for children produced by this couple using Punnett
Square.

O O

A AO AO

B BO BO

(e) Based on the result of the Punnett square, do you think the baby is switched?
No, because the possible blood type of the baby is produced by these two
parents and codominant to one another.

c. A woman who has hemophilia marries a normal man. How many of their children
will have hemophilia (a disorder in which the blood does not clot properly), and
what is their sex?
 XH Xh

XH XHXH XHXh

Y XHY XhY

50% of their children will have hemophilia and it is male. The other 50% male
will not have a hemophilia. The daughters will not be affected of hemophilia.

d. A homozygous black bird is crossed with a homozygous white bird. The offspring
are all bluish gray. Cross a black bird and a bluish-gray bird. What is the genotype
and phenotype of the birds?
W W

B BW BW

B BW BW
100%, bluish-white

IV. Guide Questions:

1. Why is Non-Mendelian inheritance important?
• Non-Mendelian inheritance is important because it plays a vital role in several
disease processes and treatments. Because of non-Mendelian Inheritance,
offspring can carry the traits of both their parents in a mixed format rather than
being identical to them.
2. Why is Blood Type O called as the “universal donor” so as why AB called as the “universal
receiver?”
• Blood type O is known as the universal donor it doesn’t have either A or B
antigens on the surface of their RBCs, but their blood serum contains IgM
antibodies against both A and B antigens. Therefore, an individual with Blood
Type O can only receive blood from a blood group O individual, but they can
donate blood to individuals of any ABO blood group (i.e. A, B, O, or AB). Blood
Type AB is called as the universal receiver because it has both A and B antigens
on the surface of their RBCs, and their blood serum does not contain any
antibodies against either A or B antigen. Therefore, an individual with type AB
blood can receive blood from any group, but can only donate blood to another
group AB individual.
3. What do you think a flower would look like if the red and white phenotypes were
codominant instead? Why?
• The petals of the flower will have the spots of both red and white because in
codominance, there will be a blending of colors, and so the alleles will
simultaneously appear in the flower.