Law of Multiplicative Probabilities

• The probability of two independent events

occurring together is the product of their
individual probabilities.
– e.g. probability of throwing a die and getting a 5 at
the top is 1/6 and the probability of throwing 2 dice
simultaneously and obtaining 5 on top of each is
1/6 x 1/6 = 1/36.
• Mendel’s law of independent assortment.
– Genes located on different pairs of homologous
chromosomes are inherited independently from each
other.
• So...
Back to previous problem….

Since the probability of genotype Cc producing a c gamete is 0.5 and the

probability of genotype Uu producing a u gamete is 0.5…
then the probability of genotype CcUu producing a cu gamete is 0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25

1. Monohybrid e.g. Cc: No. and type of gametes = 2 (C or c)

No. and type of genotypes = 3 (CC, Cc or cc)
No. and type of phenotypes = 2 (Cleft or smooth)
2. Dihybrid e.g. CcUu: No. and type of gametes = 4 (CU, Cu, cU and cu)
No. and type of genotypes = 9 (CCUU, CCUu, CcUU,
CcUu, CCuu, Ccuu, ccUU, ccUu, ccuu)
No. and type of phenotypes = 4 (Cleft and attached, cleft
and unattached, smooth and attached, smooth and
unattached)
No. pairs of No. gametes No. No. No. possible
alleles phenotypes genotypes gamete
combinations
n 2n 2n 3n 4n

1 2 2 3 4

2 4 4 9 16

3 8 8 27 64

4 16 16 81 256
 Examples

Genotype No. of gametes

AaBbCc 23 = 8
AaBbCcDd 24 = 16
aaBbCC 21 = 2
AaBbccdd 22 = 4

N.B. Only consider the heterozygous condition!

 PROBLEM
Determine the proportion of homozygous recessives (aa, bb, cc, dd, ee) in
the progeny of the cross AabbCcDdEe x AaBbCcddEe.

CROSS: Aa x Aa bb x Bb Cc x Cc Dd x dd Ee x Ee
½ bb ¼ bb ½ dd ¼ ee
A a
A AA Aa
a Aa aa
¼ aa
So, proportion of homozygous recessives = ¼ x ½ x ¼ x ½ x ¼
= 1/256
 Modifications of the 9:3:3:1 Ratio
• Occurs when one or both pairs of alleles
can exhibit incomplete dominance, co
dominance or lethality.
– i.e. one or both genes do not have dominant/
recessive alleles.
 PROBLEM
In tomato, two genes located on different chromosomes (segregated
independently) give the phenotype for colour of flowers (Y = yellow, y = white) and
presence of hairs on the stems (hairless, very hairy and scattered hairs). Cross
two heterozygous individuals and determine the phenotypic ratio of the progeny.
 ANSWER
Gene 1: Y = yellow, y = white → Heterozygous = Yy
Gene 2: h1 = hairless, h2 = very hairy, h1h2 = scattered hairs
→ Heterozygous = h1h2 (Incomplete dominance)
CROSS: Yyh1h2 x Yyh1h2
GAMETES: Yh1 Yh2 yh1 yh2 and Yh1 Yh2 yh1 yh2
Yh1 Yh2 yh1 yh2
Yh1 YYh1h1 YYh1h2 Yyh1h1 Yyh1h2
Yh2 YYh1h2 YYh2h2 Yyh1h2 Yyh2h2
yh1 Yyh1h1 Yyh1h2 yyh1h1 yyh1h2
yh2 Yyh1h2 Yyh2h2 yyh1h2 yyh2h2

GENOTYPIC RATIO: YYh1h1 = 1, YYh1h2 = 2, YYh2h2 = 1, Yyh1h1 = 2, Yyh1h2 =

4, Yyh2h2 = 2, yyh1h1 = 1, yyh1h2 = 2, yyh2h2 = 1
PHENOTYPIC RATIO: yellow hairless = 3, yellow v. hairy = 3, yellow scattered
hair = 6, white hairless = 1, white v. hairy = 1, white scattered hair = 2
 PROBLEM
Determine the genotypic and phenotypic ratios of the cross AaBb x AaBb, taking
into account that bb individuals die during embryo development (i.e. ‘b’ allele is
lethal)
 Answer
CROSS: AaBb x AaBb
GAMETES: AB Ab aB ab and AB Ab aB ab
F1:
AB Ab aB ab
AB AABB AABb AaBB AaBb
Ab AABb AAbb AaBb Aabb So, 9:3:0
aB AaBB AaBb aaBB aaBb
ab AaBb Aabb aaBb aabb

GENOTYPIC RATIO: AABB = 1, AABb = 2, AaBB = 2, AaBb = 4, AAbb = 1,

Aabb = 2, aaBB = 1, aaBb = 2, aabb = 1
PHENOTYPIC RATIO: 9: 3
 Multiple Alleles
• When a gene has more than 2 alleles.
• e.g coat colour in rabbits can be:
– c+ = agouti Phenotypes Genotypes
– cch = chinchilla Agouti c+c+, c+cch, c+ch, c+c
– ch = himalayan Chinchilla cchcch, cchch, cchc
– c = albino
Himalayan chch, chc
• c+ > cch > ch > c Albino cc

If the number of alleles in a series is = n, the number of possible genotypes =

n/2(n+1).
n = 4, possible genotypes = 4/2 (4+1) = 10
 PROBLEM
Determine the phenotypic and genotypic ratio of the F1 of the cross between cchc
and c+c.

CROSS: cchc x c+c

GAMETES: cch, c and c+, c
F1: c+ c

cch c+cch cchc

c c+c cc

GENOTYPIC RATIO: 1 c+cch : 1 c+c : 1 cchc : 1 cc

PHENOTYPIC RATIO: 2 agouti : 1 chinchilla : 1 albino
 Blood Groups
• The gene that determines
ABO blood types
encodes enzyme that IA – product adds galactosamine
adds sugar molecules to IB – product adds galactose
lipids on the surface of I – product does not add any sugar
RBC.
• These sugars act as
recognition markers for IA = IB > i
the immune system.
• The gene is controlled by
multiple alleles: IA, IB and
i.
Possible genotypes Possible phenotypes Blood groups

IAIA AA A

IAIi AO A

IAIB AB AB

IBIB BB B

IBIi BO B

ii OO O
Usually antibodies are acquired after exposure to the antigen.
Antibodies involved in human blood group A-B-O system are
natural/genetically-determined.

Blood Antigen Antibody

group (in erythrocyte) (in serum)
A A Anti-B
B B Anti-A
AB A and B Neither
O Neither Anti-A and
Anti-B

So, the universal blood donor is O and the universal acceptor is AB.
Medicolegal aspects of the A-B-O blood
group system

Case no. Alleged Mother Child Your ruling

father
1 B BB or BO A AA or AO O Possible

2 B BB or BO A AA or AO AB Possible
3 O OO A AA or AO AB Not Possible
4 O OO AB AB B Possible
 Epistasis
• One gene interferes with or affects another
gene.
– e.g. Coat colour in Labrador dogs depends
on the interaction of two genes.
– Gene 1: allele B gives black colour, allele b
gives brown colour.
– Gene 2: allele E promotes melanin
deposition, allele e prevents deposition.
– So, genotype ee means the dog is yellow.
Possible genotypes Phenotypes
BBEE Black
BBEe Black
BBee Yellow
BbEE Black
BbEe Black
Bbee Yellow
bbEE Brown
bbEe Brown
bbee Yellow
 Polygeny
• Many genes that act sequentially or jointly and
affect one trait.
• e.g. Human height.
– Continuous variation of the trait in a population.
– Range and gradation from very short – short –
medium – tall – very tall.
• Genes segregate independently of one another
– gradation in degree of difference between
individuals.
e.g. 5 genes contribute to height. Each gene has 2 alleles: + = allele
that gives one unit of height, 0 = allele that does not.

Gene 1 2 3 4 5

Genotype ++ +0 00 +0 ++
of parent 1
Genotype ++ 00 +0 +0 +0
of parent 2
Alleles ++ +0 0+ ++ ++
inherited
by child A
Alleles ++ 00 00 00 +0
inherited
by child B

Which child is the tallest? Child A

 Environmental effects
• Environment affects expression of some genes
e.g.
– coat colour of Siamese cats and some rabbits
affected by temp.
– height of plants affected by altitude.
– leaf shape affected by light.
– flower colour affected by soil acidity.
• Some variations of phenotype are purely
environmental e.g…
• Epigenetics (methylation, histone modification)
 Sex determination and inheritence

• Autosome: any chromosome that is not a sex

chromosome.

• Sex chromosome: the one chromosome pair

that is not identical in the karyotypes of the males
and females of the same spp.
 XX-XY system
• Occurs in mammals (incl. humans), some
plants and some insects.
• e.g. In humans:
– Female = 44 autosomes and 2 sex
chromosomes, XX (homogametic).
– Males = 44 autosomes and 2 sex
chromosomes, XY (heterogametic).
• Y chromosome gives “maleness”.