Solving Genetic Problems

Name ___________________
Part 1. Monohybrid Crosses
Solve these problems according to the techniques practiced previously.

1. In squash, white fruit is dominant over yellow fruit. If a hybrid white-fruited plant
pollinates a yellow-fruited one, what ratio of fruit colors can be predicted among the
offspring?

% white - 75%

% yellow - 25%

2. Human ear lobes hang freely due to a dominant gene, while attached lobes are due to
recessive genes. A child whose ear lobes are free-hanging has one parent with ears
like his, one parent with attached lobes, and one sibling with attached lobes. Write
the genotype of all 4 people. Could other genotypes exist in other children in this
family?

Child - Ee First Parent - Ee

Second Parent - ee Sibling - ee

Bios 1010 General Biology Page 1

 3. Suppose a large-nosed man married a small-nosed woman, large nose being the
dominant trait. One parent of both is known to be small-nosed. What proportion of
their children is likely to be small-nosed?

Man Woman

LL x ll

The children have a 50% chance of being small nosed unless the other parent has the recessive gene

4. Dimples are dominant. A dimpled man and a non-dimpled woman have 10 children,
all dimpled. We might be tempted to assume that the father homozygous for the
dimpled trait. Do we know this? What must child #11 be to determine the father's
genotype with certainty? Explain.

Man Woman We know that the man has the dominant dimpled trait
There could be 3 combos for child 11
DD x dd DD,Dd,or dd

5. Freckles are dominant. A freckled man whose father was freckled and whose mother
was not freckled, married a non-freckled woman whose father and mother were both
freckled. This couple has a non-freckled son. Identify the genotypes of all 7
individuals. Can all these be determined with certainty? What can we expect in
terms of freckles in their future offspring. [Suggestion: make a family tree diagram.]

Father: FF Mother: ff

Freckled man: Ff
Non- freckled woman:ff

Father: FF Mother: FF

Their son: ff

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Part 2. Dihybrid Crosses
1. A prominent nose is dominant to a small one, and thick lips are dominant to thin ones.
Predict the genotypes and phenotypes of children of this couple: pure prominent nose
and pure thick lips crossed with a hybrid for both traits.

Parent 1 Genotype: Parent 2 Genotype:

NL NL NL NL
NNLL NnLl
Nl NNLl NNLl NNLl
NNLl
Children’s phenotype(s): NNLl Nl NNLl
NNLl NNLl NNLl
Children’s genotype(s): nL NnLL NnLL NnLL
NnLl NnLL
nl NnLl NnLl NnLl NnLl
2. Freckles are dominant over non-freckled skin, while double-jointed thumbs are
recessive to normal joints. What are the skin and joint traits of children of a hybrid
freckled, pure normal-jointed man and a non-freckled, double-jointed woman?

Father’s Genotype: FfNN Mother’s Genotype:

Ffnn
FN FN fn fn
fn FfNn FfNn ffnn ffnn
fn
Children’s phenotype(s): FfNn FfNn ffnn
FfNn fn ffnn
FfNn FfNn ffnn
fn ffnn
FfNn
3. Genes for normal skin pigment are dominant, as are those for tasting of PTC. A FfNn ffnn ffnn
normally-pigmented woman is a non-taster. Her father is an albino taster. She
marries an albino man who is a taster. His mother is a normally-pigmented non-
taster. What combinations of traits can be expected in their children?

Women’s Genotype: Husband’s Genotype:

Pptt ppTt
Pt Pt pt pt
pT PpTt PpTt
Children’s Phenotype(s): ppTt ppTt
pt Pptt
PpTt Pptt pptt
pT pptt
Bios 1010 General Biology Page 3 PpTt PpTt ppTt
ppTt
pt
Pptt Pptt pptt pptt
4. A freckled man with a prominent nose married a woman with similar traits. The
woman’s father and the man’s mother were non-freckled and each had a small nose
also. Predict the likelihood of various sets of skin/nose characteristics possible in
their children.

Man’s Genotype: Women’s Genotype:

FfNn FfNn
FN Fn fN fn

FN FFNN FFNn FfNN FfNn

Fn
FFNn FFnn FfNn Ffnn
fN
% of Children that are: FfNN FfNn ffNN ffNn
fn
FfNn Ffnn ffNn ffnn
Freckled with prominent nose: 50 Freckled with small nose: 0

Non-freckled with prominent nose: 25 Non-freckled with small nose: 25

Part 3. Other Patterns

1. Two cats with medium-length tails have a litter which includes 6 with medium tails, 2
with long tails, and 3 with no tails. From these data, we might infer that incomplete
dominance is operating here. Explain why this seems to be true and identify the
genotypes of all these cats.

L N

L LL
Genotypes LN
N LN
Mother: LN Father: LN Medium-tailed kittens: NN
LN
Long-tailed kittens: No-tailed Kittens NN
LL

The medium trait is incomplete dominance between no tails and long tails

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2. Unlike pea flower color, color of snapdragon flowers is controlled by incomplete
dominance. White-flowered and red-flowered snapdragons are homozygous, while
pink flowered-snapdragons are heterozygous.

A nursery wants to cell seeds that only produce one color of flower. Identify the parents
they would need to cross to produce seeds that will only produce one color of flower.

R R
Parents to produce only white-flowered offspring: WW, WW
W RW RW
Parents to produce only red-flowered offspring: RR, RR

Parents to produce only pink-flowered offspring: RR, WW

W RW RW

3. A man with type AB blood marries a women with type O blood. What is the expected
ratio of blood types in their children?

A B
O AO BO
O A O BO
% type O: 0 % type A: 50 % type B: 50 % type AB: 0

4. A man with type A blood marries a women with type B blood. They have a child with
type O blood. What are the genotypes of the man and women? What % of their
children will have type AB blood?

A O
Man’s Genotype: AO Women’s Genotype:
BO
B AB BO

%AB children: 25% O AO OO

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5. In radishes, red and white are the pure-breeding colors and long and round are the
pure-breeding shapes, while the hybrids are purple and oval. The cross of a red oval
with a purple oval will produce what proportion of each of the 9 possible phenotypes?
Use the table below to draw a Punnett square to help with the problem.

Red-Oval Parent

RL RO RL RO
Purple Oval Parent

RL RRLL RORL RLRL RORL

RO RORO RORL
RORL RORO

WL RLWL ROWL RLWL ROWL

WO RLWO ROWO RLWO ROWO

Red-Long: 2/16 Red-Oval: 4/16 Red-Round: 2/16

White-Long: 0/16 White-Oval: 0/16 White-Round: 0/16

Purple-Long: 2/16 Purple-Oval: 4/16 Purple-Round: 2/16

Part 4. Sex linked traits.

These problems involve the XX and XY sex-determining set of chromosomes.

1. Red-green colorblindness is inherited as a sex-linked recessive trait. If a colorblind

woman marries a man who has normal vision, what color vision can be expected in
their children? Account for females and males separately.

Women’s Genotype: XbXb Man’s Genotype: Xb

XBY Xb

XB XBXb XBXb
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Y XbY XbY
Female Children: Male Children:

2. A certain recessive, lethal gene is carried on the X chromosome. (Lethal genes are
those that result in death.) A man marries a woman who is hybrid for this gene.
What sex ratio would be expected among the living children of this couple?

XL Xl

XL XLXL XLXl
% Male: XLY % Female: XLXl
Y XLY
XlY

3. A daughter is born to parents whose color vision is normal. When it becomes apparent
that the daughter cannot distinguish red and green, the husband claims this could not
be his child. Is he correct? Explain.

If the wife is a carrier for color blindness, the child could be his. if not, the child is his

XB Xo

XB XXBB XBXo

Y XBY XoY
4. A female calico cat has a litter with the following kittens: one calico female, 1 orange
females, 1 orange male, 2 black males. What color was the father? (See the
information in the Genetic Traits lab to review how coat color in cats is inherited.)
Explain your answer.

Xb Xo
The male must be orange to produce a female orange calico Xo XbXo XoXo
Y XbY XoY

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Bios 1010 General Biology Page 8
5. The diagram below represents the occurrence of an inherited form of deafness in a
family. Black figures indicate those who are deaf. According to the evidence from
this family, which of these genetic explanations is possible? (a) X-linked gene (b) Y-
linked gene (c) incomplete dominance (d) dominant gene (e) recessive gene (not on
X or Y). Very helpful suggestion: Try out each possibility by assigning a pair of
genes to each person. For example, try D as a dominant gene for deafness, and d as a
recessive normal gene. If you discover that a child could not have received its genes
from the parents shown, you have reason to discard that explanation. Use pencil –
you may have to try several possibilities!

Deaf Male Hearing Male

Deaf Female Hearing Female

Dd dd Dd Dd

dd Dd dd Dd dd DD or Dd DD or Dd

dd Dd Dd Dd

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