Beyond MENDEL

BEYOND MENDEL
• Some patterns of genetic inheritance are not
explained by Mendel’s principles

• Molecular genetics has provided some

explanations
 New Concepts
1. Some alleles are neither dominant
nor recessive.
2. Many genes have more than two
alleles.
3. If a gene is located on the X
chromosome (sex-linked), females
will have two alleles, but males
will only have one.
 Incomplete Dominance
• Occurs when one allele is not
completely dominant over the other
• The heterozygous phenotype is a
blending of the two homozygous
phenotypes
Example of incomplete dominance:
flower color in four o’clock plants
Two alleles:
• R - red
r Rr Rr
• r - white
RR plants are red
rr
rr plants are white
r Rr Rr

Cross: RR x rr
Rr plants are pink!
Incomplete
Dominance

• In incomplete
dominance F1
hybrids have an
appearance in
between the
phenotypes of
the two parents
Another example of incomplete
dominance – horse color
• Cross a chestnut
brown horse (CC)
with a white horse
(cc)
• Result is a golden
palomino (Cc)
 Codominance
• Both alleles contribute to the
phenotype
• Instead of a blend, phenotype
shows distinct features of both
alleles
 Example of Codominance
• Feather color in chickens
• Two alleles: FB = Black
FW= White
FB FB = black chicken; FW FW = white chicken
• Cross a black chicken with a white chicken
(FB FB x FW FW)
• Offspring is FB FW = black and white
speckled
 Multiple Alleles
• Many genes have more than two
alleles
• Does not mean an individual can
have more than two alleles
• Only means there are more than
two possible alleles in the
population
Multiple alleles:

 Not all genes have two forms (alleles), many have multiple alleles.

 Diploid individuals have only two alleles, one on each chromosome.

Examples:

ABO blood groups

Drosophila eye color

Fig. 12.1
 Example of Multiple Alleles:
• Human blood type
• Gene codes for a carbohydrate found
on the surface of red blood cells
• Three possible alleles
• IA - codominant
• IB - codominant
• i - recessive
Multiple Alleles and Blood Type
• The ABO blood groups in humans are
examples of multiple alleles
• Possible alleles are A, B, or O
• Two of the human blood type alleles
exhibit codominance
• Both alleles are expressed in the phenotype

Figure 9.20
Possible genotypes and phenotypes
Genotype Phenotype
• I AI A Blood type A
• I BI B Blood type B
• I AI B Blood type AB
• I Ai Blood type A
• I Bi Blood type B
• ii Blood type O
 Sex-linked Traits
• Coded for by genes on the X
chromosome
• Females have two X chromosomes, so
have two alleles for the gene
• Males have one X (and one Y, which
doesn’t have the same genes as an X), so
males only have one allele for the gene
 Red-green color-blindness: an
example of a sex-linked trait

Two possible alleles

• XC - normal (dominant)
• Xc - color blind (recessive)
 Possible genotypes and
phenotypes
Genotype Phenotype
XC XC normal female
XC Xc normal female
Xc Xc color blind female
XC Y normal male
Xc Y color blind male
 Polygenic Traits
• Traits such as height, weight, and skin
color result from the cumulative effects
of many genes.
• These traits are not expressed as
“either/or’” as was the case with
Mendel’s pea plant traits.
 Polygenic Traits, cont’d
• Recognizable by
their expression as a
gradation of small
differences (a
continuous
variation).
• Resulting
phenotypes form a
bell-shape curve.
 Polygenic
Inheritance
• Polygenic
inheritance is the
additive effects of
two or more genes
on a single
phenotype
 Pleiotropy

• Pleiotropy is the impact of a single

gene on more than one characteristic
• Sickle-cell disease is an example
 Individual homozygous
for sickle-cell allele

Sickle-cell (abnormal) hemoglobin

Abnormal hemoglobin crystallizes,

causing red blood cells to become sickle-shaped

Sickled cells

Breakdown of Clumping of cells

Accumulation of
red blood cells and clogging of sickled cells in spleen
small blood vessels

Pain and Damage to

Physical Heart Brain Spleen
weakness Anemia other
failure fever damage organs
damage

Impaired Pneumonia Kidney

mental Paralysis and other Rheumatism
failure
function infections
Figure 9.21
The Role of Environment
• Many human characteristics result from
a combination of heredity and
environment
Dari persilangan jagung homozigot, dengan
panjang tongkol 30 cm dan jagung homozigot
dengan panjang tongkol 15 cm, dihasilkan
keturunan bertongkol rata-rata 22,5 cm.
Persilangan antara jagung F1 tersebut
menghasilkan jagung bertongkol bervariasi
mulai dari 15 cm sampai 30 cm. Dari
keturunan sejumlah 640, yang 10 panjang
tongkolnya 15 cm, yang 11 panjang
tongkolnya 30 cm. Tentukan berapa jumlah
gen yang berperanan dalam pembentukan
tongkol. Berapa kontribusi masing-masing
alel terhadap penambahan panjang tongkol
• Jumlah gen yang berperanan = 10/640 =
1/64= ¼ pangkat 3 = 3 gen = 6 alel
• 15 cm = resesif semua = kalau ada 6 alel =
aabbcc ; 30 cm = ada 6 alel dominan =
AABBCC
• Kontribusi masing-masing alel = (30-15)/6=
2,5 cm
• Coba heterozigot = AaBbCc= 15 cm + 3 x 2,5
cm = 22,5 cm
• AAbbCc=15+(3x2.5)=22.5
• AabbCC
• AABbcc
• aabbCc=