Name: Paz, Christine Ann Section N2 Date November 17, 2018 Rating ______

Activity No. 8
CORN GENETICS CHI-SQUARE ANALYSIS

Chi-square is an important statistical tool in genetics which allows a geneticist to assess

whether observed frequencies are significantly different from expected frequencies. As such, it
tests the probability that a given deviation can be attributed to chance.

In this exercise, an ear of corn will be examined focusing on coloration and texture of
kernels. Chi square will be used to evaluate if the observed counts of corn kernels are within
the ratio of Mendel’s monohybrid and dihybrid cross.

Objectives:
At the end of the activity, you are expected to:
1. Simulate Mendelian laws using corn genetics,
2. determine the type of cross and genes responsible for the coloration and texture of the
corn kernels,
3. conduct chi square analysis using the data on corn kernels.

Materials:

Photos of mutated corn kernel will be provided to substitute for actual kernels.

Procedure/Data/Questions

A. Monohybrid Cross
1. Count the number of purple and yellow kernels in five rows of the of corn (photo
given to you) and record the number on the chart. Be sure to use the same five rows for
each calculation. Record your data in Table 1.
2. Count the number of smooth and shrunken seeds on the same five rows and record on
the chart. Record your data on Table 2.

B. Dihybrid Cross
1. We will now consider a dihybrid cross, which is a combination of the two monohybrids.
Your ear of corn may be a result of a cross between plants that were both heterozygous
(PpSs x PpSs). Create a Punnett square or the fork method system to determine the
phenotype ratio. Show your Punnett square or fork method in the space below.
2. Now count the number of each phenotype in your five rows on the ear of corn. Enter
your data in Table 3.
3. To determine if the deviations from your observed data are due to chance alone
(9:3:3:1) or if the data is significantly different, you need to use a chi square test. Fill up

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 the chi square table (Table 4) to help you make the calculations. You will have five
Tables for each of the Corn Kernel (Kernel A to E).
4. Now determine if your chi square value is a good fit with your data. Your degree of
freedom (df) is the number of possible phenotypes minus 1. In your case, 4 - 1 = 3. Using
the Chi-square table (Table 5), find the number in that row that is closest to your chi
square value. Circle that number.

DATA:

Table 1. Monohybrid outcome for coloration in corn.

Kernel Coloration Number of Kernels Kernel Percentage

Purple
Yellow
Total (for 5 rows)

Table 2. Monohybrid output for kernel texture in corn.

Kernel texture Number of Kernels Kernel Percentage

Smooth
Shrunken
Total (for 5 rows)

Table 3. Frequency and percentage of phenotypes from a dihybrid cross in corn.

Phenotypic classes Frequency Percentage

Purple & smooth
Purple & shrunken
Yellow & smooth
Yellow & shrunken

Total (for five rows

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Table 4. Chi square for dihybrid cross in corn. (Need to have 5 Tables for each Kernel).

Phenotypic Expected Observed Expected Deviation

class ratio frequency frequency (D)
(O) (E) D2 D2/E
Purple &
smooth

Purple &
shrunken

Yellow &
smooth

Yellow &
shrunken

Total

ƸX2

Table 5. Chi-square values for goodness of fit.

Goodness of fit between ear and data Poor fit

df .90 .70 .60 .50 .20 .10 .05 .01
1 .02 .15 .31 .46 1.64 2.7 3.85 6.64
1
2 .21 .71 1.0 1.39 3.22 4.6 5.99 9.21
5 0
3 .58 1.42 1.8 2.37 4.64 6.2 7.82 11.34
5 5
4 1.0 2.20 2.7 3.36 5.99 7.7 9.49 13.28
6 8 8

Discussion Questions:

1. What are the probable phenotypes of the parents with regard to coloration and
texture?

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2. Cross: PpSs x PpSs. Use either Punnett Square of Fork Method

a. Punnett Square

PpSs x PpSs

PS Ps pS ps

PS PPSS PPSs PpSS PpSs

Ps PPSs PPss PpSs Ppss

pS PpSS PpSs ppSS ppSs

ps PpSs Ppss ppSs ppss

b. Fork Method

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 c. Record phenotypic ratio that you would expect to get from this cross (#2)

Purple & smooth _______

Purple & shrunken ______

Yellow & smooth _______

Yellow & shrunken ______

3. Explain what it means to have a "good fit" or a "poor fit". Does your chi square analysis
of real corn data support the hypothesis that the parental generation was PpSs x PpSs?

Critical Insights

References:

https://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/corn_chi.html

www.npenn.org/cms/lib/PA09000087/Centricity/Domain/1222/CORN%20GENETICS%20CHI
%20 SQUARE%20ANALYSIS.%20w.answers.docx

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