Expanding on Mendel's Ideas

As our knowledge of genetics improves, we need to

expand our theories of trait Inheritance and our
understanding of the mechanics of genetics.

Mendel's experiments only covered dominant

and recessive traits...,

... but since then, scientists have found that

inheritance can be more complicated.
Codominance & Incomplete Dominance

Some alleles are not completely

dominant over all others.

When codominant or incompletely dominant alleles

combine, they form an interemediate trait.

i.e. Not the

dominant trait, not
the recessive trait,
rather something
in between.
 A common symbol for Codominant traits
is a capital prime letter. ex: B' T' Q'

Codominant alleles are still dominant to recessive

alleles.

The common symbol for incomplete dominant traits

is a lower-case prime letter. ex: b' t' q'

Incomplete dominant alleles are "equally"

dominant to each other, but still recessive.
Example: Codominant
Heterozygous Red Flower (Rr) R = Red petals
x A Heterozygous White Flower (R'r) R' = White petals
Rr x R'r r = Yellow petals

R r Possible Genotypes for

offspring...
R’ RR’ R’r ¼ for each

r Rr rr Possible Phenotypes for

offspring...
Pink, White, Red, Yellow
Example: Incomplete Dominant
Spotted Female (Ff) x F = Spotted Fur Coat
Striped Male (f f ') f = Solid Black Fur Coat
f ' = Solid Yellow Fur Coat

F f Possible Genotypes for

offspring...
f Ff ff Ff, ff, Ff’, ff’

f’ Ff’ ff’ Possible Phenotypes for

offspring...
2/4 spots
¼ black
¼ stripes
Sex Linked Traits
In humans, the gender of the offspring is controlled
by the 23rd pair of chromosomes.

These chromosomes are called X and Y.

Females have the genotype XX

Males have the genotype XY

X X

X XX XX

Y XY XY
 The X Chromosome is larger
than the Y Chromosome.

Therefore it contains more

genetic.

Essentially, the Y Chromosome only

contains enough genetic information
to determine gender.

Therefore any trait carried on the

X Chromosome would be
dominant, because it does not
have a match on the Y.
The Y Chromosome is often considered recessive
for sex-linked traits.

Sex-linked traits are represented by an X or Y with

and exponent representing the allele on the
chromosome.

X = = Dominant X-linked Allele

R

X = Recessive X-linked Allele

r

Y = Y-linked Allele
b

This helps explain why certain traits are more common

in males than in females, and visa versa.
Example
A normal hair man (X Y)
B

x A heterozygous normal hair woman (X X )

B b X = Normal Hair
B

X = Bald
b

XBXb x XBY Y = "Blank" allele

XB Xb Possible Genotypes for

offspring...
XB XBXB XBXb

Y XBY XbY Possible Phenotypes for

offspring...
Example
A heterozygous normal hair woman (X X )
B b

X = Normal Hair
B

x A bald man (X Y)
b

X = Bald
b

XBXb x XbY Y = "Blank" allele

XB Xb Possible Genotypes for

offspring...
Xb XBXb XbXb

Y XBY XbY Possible Phenotypes for

offspring...
Polygenic Traits

Some traits are controlled by more than one gene.

To determine the phenotype of a trait several

genotypes must be determined.

The Punnett Square is worked much

like one for linked traits.
Two Heterozygous Green Parakeet
BbYy x BbYy

B = Blue feathers
b = White feathers
Y = Yellow feathers
y = White featers
Two Heterozygous B = Blue feathers
Green Parakeet b = White feathers
Y = Yellow feathers
BbYy x BbYy
y = White featers
BY By bY by
Phenotypic Ratios
Green: 9 BY BBYY BBYy BbYY BbYy
Blue: 3
Yellow: 3
By BBYy BByy BbYy Bbyy
White: 1

bY BbYY BbYy bbYY bbYy

by BbYy Bbyy bbYy bbyy