Non-Mendelian Genetics

Inheritance Concepts that do not

follow Mendel’s laws
 Mendelian Genetics
(Complete Dominance)
 Only two possible Phenotypes: either
dominant or recessive

 Tall plant X Short plant = Tall plant

(TT) (tt) (Tt)
 Non-Mendelian Genetics
 But, not all inheritance is based on the
rules of Complete Dominance!!
 Introduction
 Mendelian Genetics describes inheritance
patterns based on Complete Dominance or
Recessiveness.
 There are other types of inheritance that
Mendel never considered:
 Incomplete Inheritance
 Codominance
 Multiple Alleles
 Polygenic Traits
 Sex-linked
 Incomplete Inheritance
The hybrid (heterozygous) offspring
displays a THIRD Phenotype!! Neither trait
is completely dominant, as a result, there
appears to be a blending phenotype.
Red Flower X White Flower = Pink
(RR) (WW) (RW)
Incomplete Inheritance Problem
 What is the probability of pink flowers if
pink flowers are bred with red flowers?

50%
chance
of Pink
Flowers
 CoDominance
 Both traits are dominant, and show up in
the phenotype together. Co means
“together”
 Black Cow X White Cow = Spotted Cow
(BB) (WW) (BW)
 CoDominance Problem
 What are all the possible phenotypes
when two spotted cows are bred?

Possible
phenotypes
are a black
cow, 2
spotted
cows, and a
white cow
 Below are imaginary organisms. Note horn shape, leg
length, fur color and tail shape. Now determine the type of
inheritance of the four traits by examining the genotypes of
the parents and offspring.
Blood type displays both co-dominance
and complete dominance
 Red Blood cells can either have a carbohydrate on
their surface or not.
 The presence of a carbohydrate (I) is dominant to the
absence of a carb (i).
 Additionally, there are two types of carbs that may
exist on the surface of RBCs called A (IA) and B (IB).
 Cell surface carbs A and B are codominant, which means
they could also show up at the same time on an RBC.
 Blood Type Inheritance Rules:
1. A person with the IA allele Cells Genotypes Blood types
will have A carbohydrates.
A A Type A
2. A person with the IB allele
will have B carbohydrates.
I i, I I
A
blood
3. A person with the recessive Type B
i allele will have no
carbohydrates.
I i, I I
B B B
blood
4. Or a person with both IA and Type AB
IB alleles will have both A II
A B
blood
and B carbohydrates on
their cells. Type O
ii blood
Blood Type Problems
If a woman with AB blood
has children with a man
who has type O, what will
be the possible genotypes
of their children? What will
be their blood types?

IA IB
i IA i IB i
i IA i IB i
Blood Type Problems
Blood Type Problem 2: A
woman with type B blood
has a child with type O
blood. How is this possible
if her husband has type A
blood?
 Multiple Alleles
 When more than 2 varieties exist in a trait.
Many animals have a variety of coat
colors.
 Polygenic Traits
Require more than one gene (allele) to
determine trait.
Skin tone is determined by 4-6 genes—that
means that there may be six different
chromosomes involved!
 Sex-linked Inheritance
 Genes for some traits are found on the sex
chromosomes (X or y)
 Most of these traits are recessive the normal gene
is dominant
 Heterozygous Females (XXc) are carriers. They do
not show the trait, but carry a gene for the trait.
 Homozygous Females (XcXc) have the trait
 Males with the gene (XcY) have the trait.—They do
not have another X to counterbalance the affected
gene
 Color blindness is a sex-linked
recessive trait. The gene for this trait is
inherited through the X chromosome.

If a woman with normal vision

has children with a man
who is colorblind, Xc Y
what are the chances
that their children will be
colorblind?
X XXc XY
Will any children be carriers
of the trait? X XXc XY