Assignment 1

To get full credit, you have to show the work, complete and accurate. Presenting just the result
gives you no credit at all. You need to prove you understand how to solve each problem.

1. Two gene loci, A and B, assort independently, and alleles A and B are dominant over alleles a and b.
Indicate the probabilities of producing the following:
a. An AB gamete from an AaBb individual?
b. An AB gamete from an AABb individual?
c. An AABB zygote from a cross AaBb AaBb?
d. An AaBb zygote from a cross AaBb AABB?
e. An Aabb zygote from a cross AaBb AAbb?
f. An AB phenotype from a cross AaBb AaBb?
g. An AB phenotype from a cross aabb AABB?
h. An aB phenotype from a cross AaBb AaBB?

2. In a testcross of Aa Bb CC Dd Ee, where the genes show independent assortment:

a. What is the expected frequency of aa bb Cc dd ee progeny?
b. What is the expected frequency of progeny that are heterozygous for all five genes?

3. In the cross Aa Bb Cc Dd Aa Bb Cc Dd, in which all genes undergo independent assortment, what
proportion of offspring are expected to be homozygous for dominant alleles of genes A, B and C and
heterozygous for gene D?

4. . Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a recessive human condition resulting from inability to convert

phenylalanin into tyrosine. Two normal parents have a child with PKU.
a. What is the probability that the parents will have another child that is a carrier of the recessive allele?
b. What is the probability that out of five children the couple will have three that are normal and two
that have PKU? (BOOK SOLUTION )

5. Two pea plants with purple flowers are crossed. Among the offspring, 63 have purple flowers, and 17
have white flowers. With a chi-square test, compare the observed numbers with a 3:1 ratio and determine
if the difference between observed and expected could be a result of chance.

6. Are the observed progeny numbers of 11 and 22 consistent with a genetic hypothesis that predicts a 1:1
ratio?

7. In mice, the dominant T (tailless) allele results in a short tail. Consider a cross of TT+ T+T+, where
the symbol T+ represents that wildtype, non-mutant allele:
a. What are the expected proportions of tailless versus normal-tailed offspring?
b. In a litter consisting of 4 pups, what is the probability that two will be short-tailed and two normal-
tailed?

8. In Drosophila, the recessive allele, dumpy (dp) results in short wings, and another recessive allele, rosy
(ry) results in rosy eye color. A cross of between a dp dp+ ry ry+ female and a dp dp+ ry ry+ male yielded
79 wildtype, 29 rosy, 21 dumpy, and 15 rosy, dumpy progeny. Are these numbers consistent with a
9:3:3:1 ratio?
9. An experiment to determine the inheritance of flower color in snap dragons crossed two plants with
pink flowers. The following progeny were recovered from the cross:
84 plants had red flowers,
172 had pink flowers,
78 had white flowers.

Use a Chi-square test to determine whether those numbers fit a Mendelian pattern of inheritance.

10. A nonalbino man and a nonalbino woman have several children, one of whom is albino. (a) What can
you conclude about the genotype of the mother? (b) What is the probability that the nonalbino children
are heterozygous?

11. A monohybrid cross is made for flower color, where purple is dominant to white. Fifteen
hundred F2 offspring are analyzed. How many white flowers are expected?

12. A dihybrid cross yields 200 F2 offspring. How many are expected to resemble the
homozygous recessive parental?

13. In a plant species, you notice that purple and yellow leaf colors, as well as hairy and smooth
stems, segregate. You cross a plant with purple leaves and hairy stems to a plant with yellow
leaves and hairy stems, and generate the progeny indicated below:

Class Phenotypes
1 68 yellow leaves, hairy stems
2 66 purple leaves, hairy stems
3 22 purple leaves, smooth stems
4 25 yellow leaves, smooth stems
Total: 181

a. Indicate the most likely genotypes for each parent.

b. Propose a hypothesis to explain the progeny results. Based on this hypothesis, what ratios are
expected for each of the four classes of progeny?
c. Using the chi-square method, test your hypothesis and indicate whether you accept or reject
it.

14. 125 progeny were produced from the following cross: aaBbCcDd AaBbccDD. Assume
all the genes are unlinked, and that the uppercase letters represent dominant alleles.
a. How many offspring are expected to express the dominant phenotype for each gene?
b. How many offspring are expected to have the genotype aaBBccDd?
c. How many offspring are expected to have the genotype AaBbCcDd?
15. While doing field work you discover a new dragonfly species that has either red (R) or clear
(r) wings. Initial crosses indicate that R is dominant to r. You perform three crosses using three
different sets of red-winged parents with unknown genotype and observe the following data:

Cross Phenotypes
1 72 red-winged, 24 clear-winged
2 4 red-winged
3 96 red-winged

a. What is the most likely genotype for each pair of parents?

b. Do you think there are a sufficient number of progeny to support each of your answers in the
previous question?