HKALE BIOLOGY | 27 Basic Genetics | P.

Genes and Inheritance

1. 1991/IIA/1a
Explain the meaning of the following terms :

(i) allele
(ii) polyploidy
(iii) hybrid vigour (6 marks)

2. 1996/IA/7a
Distinguish between gene and allele. (2 marks)

3. 1996/IA/7a
The experiments done by Gregor Mendel in the 19th century have led to the replacement of the old concept
of heredity, i.e. the Blending Theory, and have given insights to the nature and physical basis of the
hereditary materials involved.
In pre-Mendelian times, people observed that children look like both their mother and father. Thus the
Blending Theory, which asserted that in inheritance, parental traits were mixed in the offspring, was
proposed to explain this observation. However, when the Blending Theory is applied to Mendel’s dihybrid
experiments, it cannot account for the variations in the offspring. The following flowchart illustrates the
hypothetical results when the Blending Theory is applied to the inheritance of two qualitative traits:

(a)(i) With reference to the above flowchart, how do the actual results of Mendel’s experiments disprove
the Blending Theory? (5 marks)
(ii) How do Mendel’s laws of inheritance explain the results of his experiments?
(4 marks)
(b) The design of Mendel’s experiments contributed to his success. Give two reasons why the design of
his experiments made his findings valid and reliable.
(4 marks)
(c) In terms of present day knowledge, describe what Mendel’s ‘hereditary factors’ are in diploid
organisms and explain the physical basis of the activity of these ‘factors’ during gamete formation.
(4 marks)
(d)(i) The characters that Mendel studied were all qualitative traits. If unfortunately Mendel had selected
quantitative traits in his studies, he would have agreed with the Blending Theory. Why?
(2 marks)
(ii) Apart from quantitative traits, state one other pattern of inheritance that would produce results in
F1 that agree with the Blending Theory. (1 mark)
 HKALE BIOLOGY | 27 Basic Genetics | P.2

Pedigree Analysis
1. 1991/IIA/1bii
In a certain species of bird, one gene locus controls general feather colour, with green being dominant to
blue. A second locus controls colour intensity and the alleles at this locus show incomplete dominance. The
table below shows the six possible phenotypes:

Feather Colour intensity

colour Pale Mid Dark
Green pale green Deep green brownish green
Blue pale blue Deep blue purple

Describe the easiest way to determine whether a deep green individual is homozygous or heterozygous.
Explain your answer.
(4 marks)
2. 1992/IIB/4
(a) Explain by means of a genetic diagram how a female child could inherit haemophilia.
(8 marks)

(b) Explain why it is rare for a haemophiliac female to survive beyond the age of puberty.
(3 marks)

(c) What advice would you give to the mother of the child in part (a) if she were pregnant with a second
female foetus? Give reasons for your advice.
(3 marks)
3. 1993/IIA/1b
The occurrence of colour blindness and haemophilia in a family is shown by the pedigree below. The genes
for the two traits are found on the X chromosome.

Key: normal individual

colourblind individual
haemophiliac individual

(i) Deduce the dominance or recessiveness of the gene which leads to

(1) colour blindness.
(2) haemophilia.
Explain your answer.
(Note: Genetic diagrams will NOT be accepted.)
(6 marks)
(ii) Use appropriate symbols to represent the genotypes of individuals A, B, C, D and E. Define all the
symbols used in your answer.
(7 marks)
(iii) If individual F marries a normal man, what is the probability that her son might be a haemophiliac?
With the aid of a genetic diagram, explain your answer.
(3 marks)
 HKALE BIOLOGY | 27 Basic Genetics | P.3

4. 1995/IB/11
A horticulturist collected a wild plant with giant flowers and long internodes. He crossed it with a
homozygous cultivar (a cultivated variety of the same species) which had small flowers and short
internodes. In the F1 progeny of this cross, two phenotypic classes were obtained. They were plants with
giant flowers and long internodes and plants with small flowers and long internodes. The phenotypic ratio
was 1:1.

(a) State the recessiveness or dominance of the characters: giant flowers, short internodes.
(2 marks)

(b) If the genes for “flower size” and “internode length” were linked, would the same F1 phenotypic ratio
(1:1) as mentioned above be obtained? Explain your answer with the help of a genetic diagram.
(4.5 marks)

(c) Giant flowers appeal to consumers. Short internodes enable the packing of more plants within a
container for transport. Therefore, both properties can increase the profit from the sale of such plants.

(i) Given that the genes controlling the two characters are not linked,

(1) state the possible genotype(s) of the plants with the desirable properties mentioned above,
(1 mark)

5. 1997/IIA/3b
A diploid plant bears a dominant mutation in one allele of a gene which controls sepal form. This mutation
has the effect of changing scale-like sepals to petal-like sepals.

(i) As the flowers with petal-like sepals have a better appeal to customers, a plant breeder kept this
mutant plant in a greenhouse allowing it to self-fertilize for several generations. During this period, the
plant breeder made frequent visits to the greenhouse and removed any plant bearing flower buds with
scale-like sepals.

Deduce and explain the genotypes of the remaining plants in the F1 and F2 populations and their
relative proportions What will be the long term effect of this breeding practice?
(7 marks)

(ii) The original mutant plant was crossed with another plant which produced flowers with red petals and
scale-like sepals. All the F1 plants showed red petals. Yet only half of them produced petal-like sepals.
When these F1 plants were intercrossed, the F2 progeny showed a petal colour ratio of 3:1 (three red-
petal-bearing plants to one white petal-bearing plants).

Without using genetic diagrams, deduce and explain the dominant petal colour and the genotypes of
the two parents
(7 marks)
 HKALE BIOLOGY | 27 Basic Genetics | P.4

5. 1999/IIA/3c
The following pedigree shows the occurrence of a hereditary disease D among the members of a family:

Key:

unaffected female unaffected male

affected female affected male

Assuming that disease D is controlled by a single gene, deduce with reasons, why this disease is NOT
sex-linked. (Do not include genetic diagrams in your answer.)
(8 marks)

6. 2000/IB/10
A diploid plant species is capable of both self and cross pollination. Two purebred varieties, Y and Z, of
this plant species were identified. Individuals of variety Y have heights ranging from 21-25 cm. They all
have round leaves and are resistant to the herbicide glyphosate. Individuals of variety Z have heights
ranging from 56-60 cm. They all have wrinkled leaves and are sensitive to the herbicide glyphosate. When
Y was crossed with Z, all F1 progeny had round leaves and were glyphosate resistant. Their height
distribution is shown in Table 1.

Table 1

Height / cm Number of plants

26-30 2
31-35 10
36-40 54
41-45 51
46-50 8
51-55 3

When the F1 plants were self-pollinated, the F2 progeny had the following phenotypes:
 HKALE BIOLOGY | 27 Basic Genetics | P.5

Table 2

Number of plants
Round leaf Wrinkled leaf Round leaf Wrinkled leaf
Height / cm and and and and
Resistant to Resistant to Sensitive to Sensitive to
glyphosate glyphosate glyphosate glyphosate
21-25 15 1 0 5
26-30 88 2 2 28
31-35 114 4 3 35
36-40 152 5 5 48
41-45 152 5 6 47
46-50 116 4 4 36
51-55 86 2 3 27
56-60 13 0 0 4
Sub-total 736 23 23 230

(a) Are the alleles responsible for wrinkled leaves and glyphosate resistance dominant or recessive?
Briefly explain your answer
(3 marks)

(b) How many genes control the glyphosate response? Explain your answer with reference to the data
shown in Table 2.
(4 marks)
7. 2001/IIA/3
(a) Contrast the genetic control of ABO blood group and that of red-green colour blindness in humans.
(5 marks)
(b) When a man, Tom, of blood group A marries a woman, May, of blood group O, deduce the chances
that a child of blood group A would be born to this couple. Use genetic diagrams(s) to show your
deduction.
(7 marks)
8. 2002/IB/13
Eye colour and wing morphology of a certain species of fly are controlled by two different-genes. A student
made a cross –using flies he collected from the field. The cross and its F1 progeny are shown below :

(a) Deduce the recessive trait for eye colour and wing morphology. Explain your deduction.
(N.B. DO NOT use genetic diagram(s) in your answer.)
(4 marks)

(b) In this species of fly, X and Y are the sex chromosomes. XY confers male phenotype and XX confers
female phenotype. From the given data, what evidence supports the hypothesis that ‘the gene for eye
colour is NOT on the X chromosome’?
(N.B. DO NOT use genetic diagram(s) in your answer.)
(3 marks)
 HKALE BIOLOGY | 27 Basic Genetics | P.6

9. 2004/IIB/4b
In a family, the father and the son are colour-blind, whereas the mother has normal vision. The couple
wants to have another child. What is the probability of their second child, whether a boy or a girl, being
colour-blind? Use a genetic diagram to illustrate your answer.
(5 marks)
9. 2006/IA/6
A man of blood group A married a woman of blood group B. They have a son and a daughter. The blood
group of the son is O.
(a) What is / are the possible blood group(s) of the daughter? Use a genetic diagram to show how you
arrive at your answer. (4 marks)
(Use IA, IB and i to represent the three alleles that determine the ABO blood groups in humans.)
(b) Explain whether the son can received blood transfusion from his father. (3 marks)

10. 2006/IIA/1d
Cholesterol is important to our body, but if in excess, it can bring about adverse effects on health. It can be
absorbed into the body through diet and can also be synthesized within the body. Cholesterol in the blood
is then taken into body cells for various functions.
Although the allele for the absence of the receptor is dominant, its occurrence in the human population is
still relatively low. Suggest why. (2 marks)

11. 2008/IC/13d
Read the following passage and then answer the questions that follow it.
Genes and diseases
Certain human diseases are caused by gene mutation, which may occur 1
spontaneously in cells or may be induced by certain agents. Most mutations do
not result in any important changes in body traits. However, some mutations do
cause problems in our body, resulting in genetic disorders.

Some scientists believe that the ultimate solution to genetic disorders is to repair 5
the genetic defects by gene therapy. This can be achieved by transferring correct
copies of the gene into the problem cells. Severe Combined Immunodeficiency
Disease (SCID) is the first human genetic disorder to be treated by gene therapy.
SCID refers to a group of inherited disorders, in which
patients’ T cells and B cells fail to produce immune responses. The most common 10
type of SCID is called XSCID in which the mutated gene, being recessive, is
located on the X chromosome. Another form of SCID is called ADA SCID, which
is caused by a recessive mutation of the ADA gene on chromosome 20. Most
SCID patients do not live past their teens. In 1990, two SCID patients were
successfully treated by having the normal gene transferred into their 15
lymphocytes to compensate for the mutation. This is an example of ‘somatic
gene therapy’, which corrects the genetic defects in the body cells of the patients.
‘Germ-line gene therapy’, on the other hand, treats genetic disorders for the
offspring of the patients. The correct copy of the gene is first introduced into
germ cells, which
then differentiate into eggs or sperms. However, government in many countries 20
have banned ‘germ-line gene therapy’.

Gene mutation is also known to play a significant role in causing cancer, which is
one of the top killer diseases in developed countries. However, it has been
estimated that two-thirds of human cancers could be prevented through
appropriate lifestyle modifications. For example, a nationwide health promotion 25
campaign in the United Stated encourages people to eat at least five servings of
fruits and vegetables a day to reduce the risk of certain cancers and other
chronic diseases. Thus, other than one’s own genome, a healthy lifestyle can
contribute much to improving a person’s health.

It has been found that there are more individuals suffering from XSCID than ADA SCID. Suggest possible
explanations for this phenomenon. (lines 9 –12) (3 marks)
 HKALE BIOLOGY | 27 Basic Genetics | P.7

12. 2011/IIA/1d
In a family of four, both father and mother are normal but both their son and daughter suffer from genetic
disease A.
(i) Deduce whether disease A is dominant or recessive.
(4 marks)
(ii) Deduce whether the gene for disease A is located on the X-chromosome.
(4 marks)

Variations
1. 1993/IIA/1aii
Distinguish between continuous and discontinuous variation. (2 marks)

2. 1998/IB/12
The number of days taken for tomato plants to yield ripened fruits from the day of planting is a hereditary
character. Four varieties of tomato plants were planted in the same field in the same season. The four
varieties planted were the two pure-bred parental varieties, P1 and P2, their F1 hybrids and F2 offspring.
The number of days taken to yield ripened fruits for 100 plants of each variety was recorded in the
following histograms:
 HKALE BIOLOGY | 27 Basic Genetics | P.8

(a) What is the term used to describe the range of phenotypes observed? What type of inheritance is
responsible for this? (2 marks)

(b) Compare and contrast the variations in the phenotypes of

(i) the F1 hybrids and the parents, P1 and P2. What is the genetic basis for the difference(s)?
(4 marks)
(ii) the F1 hybrids and F2 offspring. Account for your observations. (4 marks)
(c) To obtain valid results in this genetic study, two factors were kept under control in the experimental
design. State these two factors. Why was it necessary to control them? (2 marks)

3. 2000/IB/10
A diploid plant species is capable of both self and cross pollination. Two purebred varieties, Y and Z, of
this plant species were identified. Individuals of variety Y have heights ranging from 21-25 cm. They all
have round leaves and are resistant to the herbicide glyphosate. Individuals of variety Z have heights
ranging from 56-60 cm. They all have wrinkled leaves and are sensitive to the herbicide glyphosate. When
Y was crossed with Z, all F1 progeny had round leaves and were glyphosate resistant. Their height
distribution is shown in Table 1.

Table 1

Height / cm Number of plants

26-30 2
31-35 10
36-40 54
41-45 51
46-50 8
51-55 3

When the F1 plants were self-pollinated, the F2 progeny had the following phenotypes:
 HKALE BIOLOGY | 27 Basic Genetics | P.9

Table 2

Number of plants
Round leaf Wrinkled leaf Round leaf Wrinkled leaf
Height / cm and and and and
Resistant to Resistant to Sensitive to Sensitive to
glyphosate glyphosate glyphosate glyphosate
21-25 15 1 0 5
26-30 88 2 2 28
31-35 114 4 3 35
36-40 152 5 5 48
41-45 152 5 6 47
46-50 116 4 4 36
51-55 86 2 3 27
56-60 13 0 0 4
Sub-total 736 23 23 230

(d) Based on the data shown in Tables I and 2, state and explain the nature of genetic control of height in
this plant species.
(4 marks)