Other Patterns of Inheritance

Beyond Dominant and Recessive

Alleles
 Incomplete Dominance
- A case in which one allele is not
completely dominant over another
- The heterozygous phenotype lies somewhere
between the two homozygous phenotypes
R R

W RW RW

W RW RW
 Incomplete Dominance
CC – Curly hair x SS - Straight hair
C C

S CS CS

S CS CS

CS – Wavy hair x CS
 Incomplete Dominance

SpongeBob loves growing flowers for his

pal Sandy! Her favorite flowers, Poofkins,
are found in red, blue, and purple. Use the
information provided and your
knowledge of incomplete dominance to
complete each section below.
 Incomplete Dominance
1. Write the correct genotype for each color
if R represents a red gene and r represents
a blue gene.

Red - ____________
Blue - ____________
Purple - __________
 Incomplete Dominance
2. What would happen if Spongebob crossed a
Poofkin with red flowers with a Poofkin with blue
flowers.
a. Give the phenotypes and genotypes for the
offspring.
b. How many of the plants would be have red
flowers? _____ %
c. How many of the plants would have purple
flowers? ______ %
d. How many of the plants would have blue
flowers? ______%
 Incomplete Dominance
3. What would happen if SpongeBob crossed
two Poofkins with purple flowers?
a. Give the phenotypes and genotypes for the
offspring.
b. How many of the plants would be have red
flowers? _____ %
c. How many of the plants would have purple
flowers? ______ %
d. How many of the plants would have blue
flowers? ______%
 Incomplete Dominance
4. What would happen if SpongeBob crossed a
Poofkins with purple flower with a Poofkin with
blue flower?
a. Give the phenotypes and genotypes for the
offspring.
b. How many of the plants would be have red
flowers? _____ %
c. How many of the plants would have purple
flowers? ______ %
d. How many of the plants would have blue
flowers? ______%
 Incomplete Dominance

5. Cow color can be white CW or black CB.

Mixing white and black makes spotted cows
CWCB. A black cow and a spotted cow mate.
What offspring could they have at what
possibilities?
 Codominance
- The genetic situation in which both alleles
in heterozygous individual are fully
expressed in the phenotype.

A A

B AB AB

B AB AB
 Codominance

1. In some chickens, the gene for feather

color is controlled by codominance. The
allele for black is B and the allele for white
is W. The heterozygous phenotype is
known as erminette.
 Codominance
1. Cross a checkered chicken with a black
chicken.
Parents: ____x _____

Determine the genotype, phenotypes and

give the ratio of its phenotype.
 Codominance
2. Cross two checkered chickens

Parents: ____x _____

Determine the genotype, phenotypes and

give the ratio of its phenotype.
 Codominance

Codominance: Neither allele masks the

other so that effects of both alleles are
observed in heterozygote without
blending

IA = IB > i

IA and IB are codominant.

IA and IB are completely dominant over i.
 Codominance

Phenotype Genotype Gene Antibodies

Product Present
Type A IAIA or IAi Antigen A Anti-B
Type B IBIB or IBi Antigen B Anti-A
Type AB IAIB Antigen A Neither
and Anti-A nor
Antigen B Anti-B
Type O ii none Anti-A
and
Anti-B
 Codominance
A heterozygous type B man and a type AB
woman want to have a child.

a. What are the chances of that they will

have a type B child?
b. What are the chances that their child will
be a type O carrier?
c. Other than a blood type B, what other
blood types could their child have?
Antigens on Red Blood Cells

IAi IBi

IAIB
 Inheritance of Rh Factor
Phenotype Genotype* Gene Antibodies
Product Present
Rh Positive RR or Rr Rhesus Protein None
Rh Negative rr None None
unless
exposed

*There are multiple alleles for the Rhesus protein

(R1, R2, R3, etc.) and all are dominant to the multiple
alleles for the absence of Rhesus protein (r1, r2, r3, etc.) .
C+ > cch > ch > c
 Multiple Alleles

Parents: C + cch x c hch

Determine the genotype, phenotypes and

give the ratio of its phenotype.
 Multiple Alleles

Parents: cchch x chc

Determine the genotype, phenotypes and

give the ratio of its phenotype.
 Multiple Alleles

Parents: cchc x chc

Determine the genotype, phenotypes and

give the ratio of its phenotype.
 Multiple Alleles

• Multiple alleles: three or more

alleles exist for one trait
(Note: A diploid individual can only
carry two alleles at once.)
Blood Type Allele
Type A IA
Type B IB
Type O i
 Multiple Alleles
1. What is the expected genotypic ratio
among children born to a mother having
the genotype Iai and a father with the
phenotype AB?
2. One parent has the blood type A and the
other blood type B. What are the
genotypes of the parents if they produce
children with only blood type AB?
 Multiple Alleles
3. One parent has the blood type A and the
other blood type B. What are the
genotypes of the parents if ½ of the
offspring are AB and the other ½ A?

4. One parent has blood type A and the

other blood type B. What are the
genotypes of the parents if the offspring
produce the following blood types: ¼ AB,
¼ A, ¼ B and ¼ O?
 Multiple Alleles
and Codominance

Type A, Rh positive x Type B, Rh negative

(father is Type O, Rh negative) (mother is Type O)

Phenotypic Ratio of Offspring

 Lethal Alleles

Example: Manx cat

ML = tailless, lethal in homozygote
m = tail

Tailless male x Tailless female

 Mm x Mm
(Manx) (Manx)

Sperm
M m
1:2
MM Mm
M (early ratio
embryonic (Manx) of
death)
Lethality in Manx Egg kittens
mm that
cats causes altered m Mm (non-Manx)
ratio (Manx) are
born
2:1 ratio from cross between
two yellow mice results
from a lethal allele.
 Hierarchy of Dominance

Example: hair curling

Sw = wooly Sc= curly Swa= wavy s = straight
Sw> Sc> Swa> s
 Hierarchy of Dominance

Dad Colavito has wavy hair.

Mom Colavito has curly hair.
Their daughter Jean has straight hair.
What are the expected genotypic and
phenotypic ratios for their offspring?

Sw> Sc> Swa> s

 Hierarchy of Dominance

Dad C x Mom C
Wavy Curly

Sw> Sc> Swa> s

 Pleiotropic Effects
One gene affects many
phenotypic characteristics

Allele S S’
Gene Product Hemoglobin A Hemoglobin S
Cell Shape Round Sickled under
low O2 tension
Response to Susceptible Resistant in SS’
Malaria genotype
Polygenic Traits
 Definition
• Some traits are determined by the combined
effect of two or more pairs of alleles. These traits
are called polygenic traits.

• Each pair of alleles adds something to the

resulting phenotype.

• Other names for polygenic traits are multi-

factorial traits, or quantitative traits.
 Polygenic traits are continuous

• Because so many alleles contribute to the

final phenotype, a variety of phenotypes
can occur!
• Polygenic inheritance is responsible for
many phenotypic traits. Examples include
skin pigmentation, height, intelligence and
stature.
(note that these traits all result from the interaction of
the genes with environmental factors)
 Polygenic Inheritance -
Discontinuous Variation.
• A characteristic shows
DISCONTINUOUS
VARIATION if it can be
used to divide up the
members of a species into
two distinct groups.
• e.g. Can roll tongue vs
Cannot roll tongue.
• Such information is often
presented in a bar chart.
 Polygenic Inheritance -
Continuous Variation.
• A characteristic shows CONTINUOUS
VARIATION when it varies amongst the members
of a species in a smooth continuous way from one
extreme to another, and does not fall into distinct
groups.
• e.g. Height – varies from very small to very tall.
Also, skin colour, weight
• Such information is often presented in a
HISTOGRAM.
 Effect of Environment
• Many of these characteristics are
influenced by the environment.
• Polygenic inheritance + environmental
factors = phenotypic characteristic which
shows a wide range of continuous
variation and a normal pattern of
distribution.
 Many characteristics which show continuous variation
(e.g. Height, foot size, etc.) are influenced by the
environment
• They are dependant on favourable
environmental conditions for their full
phenotypic expression.
• For example, regardless of how many
dominant alleles for height that a person
inherits, he or she will not reach their full
potential for height without consuming an
adequate diet during childhood and
adulthood.
53
 Examples of Polygenic Traits

• Pepper Color

Gene 1: R=red
r=yellow

Gene 2: Y=absence of chlorophyll (no green)

y=presence of chlorophyll (green)
 Pepper Color
• Possible genotypes:

• R-/Y- : red (red/no chlorophyll)

• R-/yy : brown/orange (red/chlorophyll)
• rr/Y- : yellow (yellow/no chlorophyll)
• rr/yy : green (yellow/chlorophyll)
 Pepper Color
• Try crossing a brown pepper (RRyy) with
a yellow pepper (rrYY).

• Which trait will your offspring (F1

generation) produce?

• What traits are produced when you cross

two of the peppers found in the F1
generation?
 More Polygenic Traits

• Chicken Combs:

– There are 4 different comb shapes that can

appear in a chicken.

– Comb shape is controlled by two genes found

on two different pairs of chromosomes.
• Gene 1: R
• Gene 2: P
 Chicken Comb Example:
• 4 different phenotypes result:

• Rose Combs (R-pp)

• Walnut Combs (R-P-)
• Pea Combs (rrP-)
• Single Combs (rrpp)
 Another example of a polygenic trait:

• Hair Color
– Hair color is controlled by alleles on
chromosomes 3, 6, 10, and 18.
– The more dominant alleles that appear in the
genotype, the darker the hair!
 Polygenic inheritance

In humans, most traits that have anything to do

with size, shape, and color are controlled by
multiple sets of genes.
(e.g. AaBbCc – three sets for one trait)
What if you did the following cross?
AaBbCc x AaBbCc – each parent contribution?
3 dominant (ABC) / 3 recessive (abc)
2 dominant/1 recessive (ABc, AbC, aBC)
1 dominant/2 recessive (Abc, aBc, abC)
The number of dominant alleles
determines how dark (or how big) the
phenotype will be…AABBCC (very
dark) aabbcc (very light)
Note the following Punnett Square…
Record the number of Dominant Alleles in the
Punnett Square
 Practice Problem
The length of a stem is controlled by three
genes – A_B_C_
aabbcc – 4 cm tall
AABBCC – 16 cm tall
Each upper case allele represents an equal
portion of the trait.
Suppose a 16 cm tall plant was crossed with
a plant 4 cm tall. How tall is the F1?
F1 – 100% AaBbCc
Base height (4 cm) + # of upper case alleles (3 @ 2cm each)

4 + 6 = 10cm tall plants (AaBbCc)

Sex Linkage and Polygenic Inheritance
 Normal Body Cells

• In the nucleus of
every body cell
there are 46
chromosomes
• 22 homologous pair
and one pair of sex
chromosomes
Female and Male Sex Chromosomes
 Red Green Colour Blindness
• Inability to
distinguish between
red and green
• A red green colour
blind person does
not see the number
29 on the right
• In humans normal
vision is completely
dominant to red-
green colour
blindness
 Genetics of Colour Blindness
• Normal vision C
• Red-green colour blindness c
• Heterozygous females are called carriers
• Work out the genotypes of the following
family tree
 Answers
• Carrier mother XCXc
• Nomal father XCY

• Normal daughter XCXC

• Carrier daughter XCXc
• Normal son XCY
• Colour-blind son XcY
 Haemophilia
• Haemophiliacs
cannot make the
blood clotting
protein Factor VIII.
• It caused by a
recessive allele
carried on the X but
not the Y
chromosome
• Hence is sex-linked
Family Tree of Haemophilia
Muscular Dystrophy
• Skeletal muscles
loose their normal
structure and
fibrous tissue
develops in their
place
• Caused by a
recessive allele
carried on the X
chromosome and is
sex-linked
Family Tree of Muscular Dystrophy