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Punnett Squares
Punnett Squares Made Easy!
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Below is a sampling of Punnett Square problems that you will be expected to solve. In order to do this, you will have to understand the meaning of the terms below. Genotype: The letters that make up the individual. E.g. TT or Tt Phenotype: The physical characteristics of the particular trait. E.g. Tall or
short

Dominant trait: Signified by capital letter-E.g. T. If the traits you are using are
dominant or recessive, this trait will "overpower" the recessive trait and will be expressed. E.g. Tt

Recessive trait: Signified by small case letter-e.g. t. An organism with a

recessive allele for a particular form of a trait will have that form only when the dominant allele for the trait is not present

Homozygous: Has same letters. E.g. TT or tt (same alleles for trait) Heterozygous: Has different letters. E.g. Tt (different alleles for trait) Purebred trait: Also known as true breeding. Individuals genotype is
homozygous and will only make one type of gamete. E.g TT will always produces T, and T. tt will always produce t, and t.

Gamete: sex cells. Represented by letter N (meaning they are haploidcontain half the chromosomes

P generation: The parental generation (Usually the first one in a genetic cross)

F1 generation: The first generation of offspring from P generation (means first

filial: Latin for "son")

F2 generation: The second generation of offspring from P generation (means

first filial: Latin for "son")

Monohybrid Cross: Also known as a Single-Factor Cross. Only one trait is

used in the genetic cross. E.g. T=Tall, t=short. Example: Tt x Tt

Dihybrid Cross: Also known as a Two-factor Cross. Two trait are used in the
genetic cross. E.g. T=Tall, t=short & B=Black fur, b=white fur. Example TtBb x TTBB

Incomplete Dominance: One allele is not completely dominant over the

other. There is a blending with the heterozygous offspring. E.g. RR=Red, Rr=Pink, and rr=white

Co-dominance: Both alleles contribute to the phenotype. Offspring will have

combination of two alleles. E.g. RR=Red hair, Rr=Roan (mix of red and white hairs-almost looks pink), and rr=white

Sex-linked trait: Genes located on the sex-chromosomes called sex-linked

genes. Usually found on the X chromosome. X-linked alleles are always expressed in males because males have only one X chromosome.

Multiple Alleles: There are more than two-choices for the allele. Example is

human blood group genes. There are three possible alleles for this gene. IA, IB, and i. IA and IB are co-dominant. There are four possible phenotypes: A, B, AB, and O.

Genotypic ratios: The ratio of different genotype in the offspring from a genetic
cross. E.g 1:2:1

Phenotypic ratios: The ratio of different phenotypes in the offspring from a

genetic cross. E.g 3:1

Sample Problems

Monohybrid (Dominant and Recessive)

PROBLEM: Cro ss two heterozygous Tall pea plants. Give genotypic and phenotypic ratios. STEP 1: Determine what kind of problem you are trying to solve.

Does it involve simple dominant and recessive traits, Inco mplete dominance , or Codominance ? Is it a monohybri d or dihyrid? In this case there is only one trait..........t his is a monohy brid cross involving dominant and recessive

traits. STEP 2: Determine letters you will use to specify traits.

In this case it is dominant and recessive, so you can use T and t.

STEP 3: Determine parents genotypes.

In this case you were told the parents were heterozyg ous. You therefore know that the parents must be Tt and Tt The Cross is: Tt X Tt

STEP 4: Make your punnet square and make gametes (these go on the top and side of your

punnett square.

Tt would make a T and a t

STEP 5: Complete cross and determine possible offspring. STEP 6: Determine genotypic and phenotypic ratios.

Genotypic ratio: Ma ke a list of all the different genotypes (the letter combinatio ns) and determine how many of each you have. o In you r pro ble m this wou ld be: TT = 1, Tt = 2, a

nd t t1. The gen otyp ic rati o wou ld ther efor e be 1: 2: 1 Phenotypi c ratio: Ma ke a list of all the different phenotype s (physical characteris tics. o In you pro ble m this wou ld be: Tal l= 3, and sho rt = 1. The phe

noty pic rati o wou ld ther efor e be 3: 1

Monohybrid (Incomplete Dominance)

PROBLEM: Cr oss two heterozygous plants. Give genotypic and phenotypic ratios. The tall gene is this plant is incompletely dominant over the short gene. TT=Tall, Tt=medium, and tt=short. STEP 1: Determine what kind of problem you are trying to solve.

Does it involve simple dominant and recessiv e traits, In complete dominan ce, or Codominan ce? Is it a monohyb rid or dihyrid? In this

case there is only one trait........ ..this is a mono hybrid cross involvin g incompl ete domina nt traits. STEP 2: Determine letters you will use to specify traits.

In this case it is a incomple te dominant problem. TT=tall, Tt=medi um, and tt=short

STEP 3: Determine parents genotypes.

In this case you were told the parents were heterozy gous. Y

ou therefore know that the parents must be Tt an d Tt The Cross is: Tt X Tt

STEP 4: Make your punnet square and make gametes (these go on the top and side of your punnett square.

Tt would make a T and at

STEP 5: Complete cross and determine possible offspring. STEP 6: Determine genotypic and phenotypic ratios.

Genotyp ic ratio: M ake a list of all the different

genotype s (the letter combinat ions) and determin e how many of each you have. o In yo ur pr ob le m thi s w ou ld be : T T = 1, Tt = 2, an d tt 1. T he ge no ty pi c ra

tio w ou ld th er ef or e be 1 : 2 : 1 Phenoty pic ratio: M ake a list of all the different phenotyp es (physical characte ristics. o In yo u pr ob le m thi s w ou ld be : T all = 1, m e

di u m = 2, a n d s h or t = 1. T he ph en ot yp ic ra tio w ou ld th er ef or e be 1 : 2 : 1

Monohybrid (Codominant)
PROBLEM: Cr oss two heterozygous tan cows. Give genotypic and phenotypic ratios. BB=Bla ck, BW=tan, and WW=white STEP 1: Determine what kind of problem you are trying to solve.

Does it involve simple dominant and recessive traits, Inc omplete dominanc e, or Codominanc e? Is it a monohyb rid or dihyrid? In this case there is only one trait......... .this is a monoh ybrid cross involvin

g codominan t traits. STEP 2: Determine letters you will use to specify traits.

In this case it is a incomplet e dominant problem. TT=tall, Tt=medi um, and tt=short

STEP 3: Determine parents genotypes.

In this case you were told the parents were heterozy gous. Yo u therefore know that the parents must be BW a nd BW The Cross is: BW x

BW STEP 4: Make your punnet square and make gametes (these go on the top and side of your punnett square.

BW woul d make a B and a W for both parents

STEP 5: Complete cross and determine possible offspring. STEP 6: Determine genotypic and phenotypic ratios.

Genotypi c ratio: M ake a list of all the different genotype s (the letter combinati ons) and determin e how many of each you

have.
o

In yo ur pr obl e m thi s wo uld be : B B = 1, B W = 2, an d W W = 1. Th e ge no typ ic rat io wo uld th er ef or e be

1 :2 : 1 Phenoty pic ratio: M ake a list of all the different phenotyp es (physical character istics. o In yo u pr obl e m thi s wo uld be : Bl ac k = 1, Ta n = 2, an d W hit e = 1. Th

e ph en oty pic rat io wo uld th er ef or e be 1 :2 :1

Monohybrid (sex-linked)
PROBLEM: Cross a female carrier for hemophilia with a male with hemophilia. H=nor mal, and h=hemophilia STEP 1: Determine what kind of problem you are trying to solve.

Does it involve simple dominant and recessive traits, Incom plete dominance, or Codominance? Is it a monohybrid or dihyrid? In this case there is only one trait..........this is a monohybri d cross involving sex linked traits.

STEP 2: Determine letters you will use to specify traits.

In this case it is a sex-

linked problem. Re member that XX is female, and XY is male. H=nor mal and h=hemophilia . Normally you would not write the capital letters on the genotypes, only the small case (the recessive gene responsible for the disorder) STEP 3: Determine parents genotypes.

In this case you were told the parents were: Femal e carrier = XhX, and a male with hemophilia = X hY . The Cross is: XhX x Xh Y

STEP 4: Make your punnet square and make gametes (these go on the top and side of your

punnett square.

XhX would make a Xh and X XhY would make a Xh and Y NOTE: The females gametes always go on top of the punnett square and the males on the side.

STEP 5: Complete cross and determine possible offspring. STEP 6: Determine genotypic and phenotypic ratios.

Genotypic ratio: Make a list of all the different genotypes (the letter combinations ) and determine how many of each you have. o In your proble m this would be: Xh X = 1, Xh Xh =

1, and XY= 1, and X h Y= 1 The genoty pic ratio would theref ore be 1 : 1:1: 1 Phenotypic ratio: Make a list of all the different phenotypes (physical characteristic s. o In you proble m this would be: F emale Carrier = 1, Femal e w/ hemop hilia = 1, Norma l male = 1, and Male w/ hemop hilia = 1. The

phenot ypic ratio would be 1 : 1:1: 1

Monohybrid (Multiple Alleles)

PROBLEM: Cross a person with type AB blood with a person who is heterozygous for type A blood. STEP 1: Determine what kind of problem you are trying to solve.

Does it involve simple dominant and recessive traits, Incomple te dominance, or Codominance, or multiple alleles? Is it a monohybrid or dihyrid? In this case there is only one trait..........this is a monohybrid cross involving multi ple alleles

STEP 2: Determine letters you will use to specify traits.

There are more than twochoices for the allele. Example is human blood group genes. There are three

possible alleles for this gene. IA, IB, and i. IA and IB are codominant. The re are four possible phenotypes: A, B, AB, and O. STEP 3: Determine parents genotypes.

In this case you were told one has type AB blood = IAIB. The other isheterozygous for type A = IAi

STEP 4: Make your punnet square and make gametes (these go on the top and side of your punnett square.

IAIB would make a IA and IB IAi would make a IA and i

STEP 5: Complete cross and determine possible offspring. STEP 6: Determine genotypic and phenotypic ratios.

Genotypic ratio: Make a list of all the

different genotypes (the letter combinations) and determine how many of each you have. o In your problem this would be: IAIA = 1, IAIB= 1, and IAi = 1, andIBi = 1 Th e genotypic ratio would therefore be 1 : 1 : 1:1 Phenotypic ratio: Make a list of all the different phenotypes (physical characteristics. o In you problem this would be: Type A = 2, Type AB = 1, and Type B = 1 o Therefor e the phenotyp ic ratio is: 2 : 1

:1

Dihybrid (Dominant and Recessive)

PROBLEM: Cros s two heterozygous Tall Black cows. Tall is dominant over short, and Black is dominant over white. Give genotypic and phenotypic ratios of offspring. STEP 1: Determine what kind of problem you are trying to solve.

Does it involve simple dominant and recessive traits, Inco mplete dominance, or Codominance ? Is it a monohybrid or dihyrid? In this case there are two traits.........t

his is a dihybrid cross involving dominant and recessive traits. STEP 2: Determine letters you will use to specify traits.

In this case there are two traits you will need letters for. Use T = Tall, and t = short for one trait, and B = Black, and b= white for the second trait. These are both dominant/re cessive genes

STEP 3: Determine parents genotypes.

In this case you were told the parents were heterozygo us for both

traits. You therefore know that the parents must be TtBb an d TtBb The Cross is: TtBb X TtBb

STEP 4: Make your punnet square and make gametes (these go on the top and side of your punnett square.

Making gametes for a dihybrid cross requires you use FOIL (fi rst-outsideinside-last) TtBb would make four different gametes = TB, Tb, tB, tb

STEP 5: Complete cross and determine possible offspring. STEP 6: Determine genotypic and phenotypic ratios.

Genotypic

ratio: Mak e a list of all the different genotypes (the letter combination s) and determine how many of each you have. o The geno typic ratio woul d there fore be 1: 2:2:1 :4:1: 2:3:1 Phenotypic ratio: Mak e a list of all the different phenotypes (physical characteristi cs. o In you probl em this woul d be: Tall/ Blac k= 9, and Tall/ whit

e= 3, shor t/Bla ck = 3, and shor t/whi te = 1. The phen otypi c ratio woul d there fore be 9: 3:3:1

Dihybrid (Dominant and Recessive and Sexlinked)

PROBLEM: Cro ss a homozygous Tall female carrier for hemophilia with a short normal male. Give genotypic and phenotypic ratios of offspring. STEP 1: Determine what kind of problem you are trying to solve.

Does it involve simple dominant and recessive traits, Inc omplete dominanc e, or Codominanc e, or sexlinked? Is it a monohybr id or dihyrid? In this case

there are two traits........ .this is a dihybri d cross involving dominant and recessive traits and sexlinked trait for hemophil ia. STEP 2: Determine letters you will use to specify traits.

In this case there are two traits you will need letters for. Use T = Tall, and t = short for one trait, and H =normal, and h = hemophil ia for the second sex-linked trait. The se are both dominant/

recessive genes STEP 3: Determine parents genotypes.

In this case you were told the parents were heterozyg ous for both traits. Yo u therefore know that the parents must be XhXTT and XYtt The Cross is: XhXTT X XYtt

STEP 4: Make your punnet square and make gametes (these go on the top and side of your punnett square.

Making gametes for a dihybrid cross requires you

use FOIL (firstoutsideinsidelast) XhXTT wo uld make four different gametes = XhT, XhT, XT, and XT XYtt woul d make four different gametes = Xt, Xt, Yt, and Yt

STEP 5: Complete cross and determine possible offspring. When you have a sexlinked trait, make sure you put the females gametes on top of the punnett square and the male's on the side. STEP 6: Determine genotypic and phenotypic ratios.

Genotypi c ratio: Ma ke a list of

all the different genotypes (the letter combinati ons) and determine how many of each you have. o Th e ge not ypi c rati o wo uld the ref ore be 4:4 :4: 4 or 1:1 :1: 1 Phenotyp ic ratio: Ma ke a list of all the different phenotyp es (physical characteri stics. o In you pro ble

m this wo uld be: T all/ fe ma le car rier = 4, Tal l/n or ma l fe ma le = 4, Tal l/m ale w/ he mo phi lia = 4, an d Tal l/n or ma l ma le = 4. Th

e ph en oty pic rati o wo uld the ref ore be 4:4 :4: 4 or 1:1 :1: 1

HEY! MR. WILSON

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