Distance Learning - Genetics Unit

Week of April 20th - 24th

Information:​ For this week we will be focusing our learning around traits that are inherited following the rules of
codominance, incomplete dominance and multiple alleles. Each topic (incomplete dominance, codominance
and multiple alleles) is broken out below and links / resources for each topic are included.

Topic 1: Incomplete dominance

In the study of genetics, not all alleles are inherited in a simple dominant and recessive pattern. One type of
inheritance that demonstrates this is INCOMPLETE DOMINANCE.​ Incomplete
dominance is when one allele is ​NOT COMPLETELY DOMINANT​ over another.
The heterozygous genotype is a ​BLEND!

● Example: A cross between two pink flowers (Rr) produces pink

flowers (Rr), red (RR) and white (rr) snapdragons.

● Another example is in animals. Look at the picture to the right. The

palomino allele in this example of horses shows incomplete
dominance.

Incomplete dominance review materials.

● Video review of incomplete dominance
● Video review​ with the amoeba sisters on incomplete dominance.
Incomplete dominance is from the beginning to 2:00 minutes.
● Online textbook, chapter 7.

Incomplete dominance practice problems.

1. In snapdragons, flower color is controlled by incomplete dominance. The two alleles are red
(R)and white (r). The heterozygous genotype is expressed as pink.
a. What is the phenotype of a plant with the genotype RR?
b. What is the phenotype of a plant with the genotype rr?
c. What is the phenotype of a plant with the genotype Rr?

2. A pink-flowered plant is crossed with a white-flowered plant. What is the probability of

producing a pink-flowered plant?
a. What cross will produce the most pink-flowered plants? Show a punnett square to
support your answer.

3. In Andalusian fowls, black individuals (B) and white individuals (b) are homozygous. A
homozygous black bird is crossed with a homozygous white bird. The offspring are all
 bluish-gray. Show the cross as well as the genotypes and phenotypes of the parents and
offspring.

4. What results if a black bird is crossed with a bluish-gray bird?

Answer Key:
1a. Red
1b. White
1c. Pink
2. 50% chance of pink flowers
3. BB x bb parents would produce 100% Bb which is the genotype of the blueish gray birds.
4. 50% black and 50% blueish gray.
Topic 2: Codominance
In genetics sometimes​ ​both alleles can contribute to the phenotype. In the heterozygous form, BOTH
TRAITS would appear. Since both alleles are dominant, both traits appear together in the
heterozygous form. Different teachers and professors in college will have you write your genotypes in
different ways for this type of inheritance. I think it is easiest to use ​TWO DIFFERENT​ capital letters to
represent the alleles. This way you know you are showing codominance instead of incomplete
dominance. Below are a few pictures that show the difference between incomplete and
codominance.

● Codominance review materials:

○ Video review of codominance
○ Video review​ with the amoeba sisters on codominance. It starts around 2:00 minutes
into the video.
○ Chapter 7, online textbook
Codominance practice problems:
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 (black
and white spotted).
a. What is the genotype for black chickens?
b. What is the genotype for white chickens?
c. What is the genotype for erminette chickens?

2. If two erminette chickens were crossed, what is the probability that:

a. They would have a black chick? ________%
b. They would have a white chick? ________%

3. A black chicken and a white chicken are crossed. What is the probability that they will have
erminette chicks? ____%

4. In shorthorn cattle, when a red bull (RR) is crossed with a white cow (WW), all the offspring are
roan—a spotted, red and white or milky red color. What genotypes are expected from mating
a roan bull and a roan cow?

Answer Key:
1a. BB
1b. WW
1c. BW

2. 25% black and 25% white

3. 100 % erminette chicks

4. 25% Red, 50% Road and 25% White

Topic 3: Multiple Alleles
Sometimes ​genes are controlled by more than two alleles. These are called multiple alleles.
○ An individual can’t have more than two alleles (remember you get one copy from each
parent). However, more than two possible alleles can exist in a population.
○ A great example and the one we will focus a lot on for multiple alleles is blood typing.

● Blood typing:​ A human’s blood type is determined by a single gene

that has three different alleles. There are 4 possible blood types
humans can have. A and B are dominant over O blood. Type O
blood is considered the recessive form of blood. In order to have O
blood a person must receive O blood alleles from both parents. For
blood type, the genotype is written as an I and the type of blood as
an exponent. If a person receives an A allele from one parent an O
allele from another, that person would have type A blood. I find
sometimes students think AO blood is possible. AO is not a type of
blood. That person would have A blood because the A allele is
DOMINANT OVER the O allele.

● Blood typing example punnett square problem. A person that is

heterozygous for type B blood is crossed with a person who has AB
blood. Their potential offspring would have the following potential
blood types:
○ 25% AB
○ 25% A
○ 50% B
○ 0% O blood

● Blood typing example punnett square problem. A person that is

heterozygous for type A blood and a person that is heterozygous for
type B blood have children. What are their children's possible
phenotypes?
○ 25% AB
○ 25% B
○ 25% A
○ 25% O
Multiple Allele review materials:

● Amoeba sisters video explaining blood typing

● Multiple alleles teaching video
● Looking for a challenge? ​Try this blood typing mystery activity.​ The goal is for you to determine
if the babies were switched at birth at the hospital. If you try this, attach your answers to this
assignment or send your teacher an email answering this question - were the babies switched
at birth, how do you know?

Multiple Allele Practice Problems.

1. Show a cross between a mother and father who both have type O blood. What are the
phenotypic ratios for their children?

2. The father is type A homozygous, the mother is type B homozygous. What are the phenotypic
ratios for their children?

3. The father is type A heterozygous, the mother is type B heterozygous. What are the
phenotypic ratios for their children?

4. The father has type O blood, the mother has type AB blood. What are the phenotypic ratios for
their children?

5. Both the father and mother have type AB blood. What are the phenotypic ratios for their
children?

6. Alice has type A blood and her husband Mark has type B blood. Their first child, Amanda, has
type O blood. Their second child, Alex, has type AB blood. What is the genotypes of Alic and
Mark?

7. Candace has type B blood. Her husband Dan has type AB blood. Is it possible for Candace and
Dan to have a child that has O blood? ___________ Explain why or why not (use a Punnett
square to help).

8. Ralph has type B blood and his wife Rachel has type A blood. They are very shocked to hear
that their baby has type O blood, and think that a switch might have been made at the
hospital. Can this baby be theirs? _____________ Explain why or why not (use a Punnett
square to help).
Answer key

1. 100% O blood
2. 100% AB blood
3. 25% AB, 25% A, 25% B, 25% O
4. 50% A and 50% B
5. 50% AB, 25% A, 25% B
6. Alice - I​A​i. Mark - I​B​i
7. No, it is not possible to have a child with O blood. Dan does not have an O allele to pass to the
child, therefore the child can not have O blood. In order to have O blood you need TWO O
alleles.
8. Yes, it is possible for the baby to be theirs. Ralph's genotype could be I​B​i and Rachel's could be
I​A​i. This would allow for a 25% chance of having an O blood baby.