Chapter 15 The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance

1. Use Morgan’s experiment to explain the theory of linked genes.

a. Morgan obtained a white eyed fly out of many red eyed flies. He then bred the

homozygous recessive white eyed fly with a homozygous dominant red eyed fly,

and it produced heterozygous red eyed flies, which then bred to form 3:1 ratio of

red to white eyed flies. The white eyed trait, however, was only found in males.

This suggests the possibility of sex-linked traits, and that the gene for eye color is

located on the X chromosome.

2. Explain the methods of determining sex in four different organisms: humans, insects,

birds and bees.

a. Humans use the X-Y system for determining sex. The mother contributes an X

egg cell, while the father can give a X or a Y sperm cell. If the X sperm fertilizes

the egg, the baby will be female, and if it is Y, it will be male.

b. Insects use the X-0 system, where there is only one sex chromosome, so females

have XX while males have X. The sperm of the male can have 1 or no X

chromosomes.

c. Birds use the Z-W system, where the sex determining chromosome is in the egg.

Females are ZW and males are ZZ

d. Bees use the haploid diploid system, which means that all males developed from

unfertilized cells and are thus haploid throughout their life.

3. Explain how sex linked traits can give rise to different disorders in humans. Give

examples.
 a. Many more males will develop X-linked recessive disorders as they only have 1

X chromosome that matters. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is an example of

X-linked diseases. It caused the weakening of the muscles and loss of

coordination. The X-chromosome codes for a key muscle protein dystrophin. This

means that if a father with Duchenne’s mates with a carrier, all the males will

have the disease while the females will be carriers. Hemophilia is another

X-linked disease. Y linked disorders are always going to appear in males.

4. How can geneticists use the idea of recombination to determine a genetic map? Define

the terms genetic map, linkage map, and map units.

a. Geneticists use the idea of recombination to determine a genetic map because of

how frequent the genes are linked together. Often, because of recombination,

genes that are located on the same chromosome and are far apart are unlinked,

while those that are close together are often inherited together from one parent.

b. Genetic map: A map of the loci of genes on a chromosome, showing their relative

position to each other.

c. Linkage map: A linkage map is a genetic map based on the frequency of

recombination. It tells you the relative location of a gene, and how far apart genes

are from each other. This map is often used to determine which genes are likely to

be inherited together.

d. Map units: One map unit is precisely one percent of recombinant frequency. This

can tell us the distance between two genes as the increasing amount of

recombination means the increasing distance between two genes.

5. Gene A, B, and C are located on the same chromosome. Testcross shows that the

recombination frequency between A and B is 28% and between A and C is 20%. Can you

determine the linear order of these genes? Explain.

a. ACB or BCA or CAB or BAC

i. We know that A and B have to be farther apart than A and C because it is

easier to recombine when the genes are farther away. Therefore, C is

closer to A than B. Thus, C can be between A and B. However, C can also

be on the opposite side of B, which in this case, linear order does not show

the relative distance between A,B, and C.

6. Explain how nondisjunction can cause the following: aneuploidy, trisomy, and

monosomy.

a. Nondisjunction is where the members of a pair of homologous chromosomes do

not move apart properly during meiosis I or sister chris matilda fail to separate

during meiosis II. This can cause aneuploidy as it means an abnormal number of a

particular chromosome. Nondisjunction would cause this because of the uneven

distribution of chromosomes. In one case of aneuplidy, it will cause monosomy

and trisomy. These refer the the number sets of chromosomes in the gamete. In a

trisomy, there would be 3 sets of chromosomes in that gamete. Polyploidy refers

to a general term for numerous chromosome sets. This can be caused by

nondisjunction in mitosis similar to how it occurs to produce a trisomy.

7. Explain what polyploidy is and give two examples of an occurrence of polyploidy.

a. Polyploidy is a cell having more than two sets of chromosomes. It could arise

from the fertilization of an abnormal diploid egg produced by nondisjunction. A

 tetra-lordy can occur when a 2n zygote fails to divide after replication, causing a

4n embryo. For example, many plants are polyploid, including bananas, which are

triploid. Another example are strawberries, which are octopod. Down syndrome is

also an effect of trisomy(polypoid)

8. Explain how alterations of chromosomes can occur through the following: Deletions,

duplications, inversions, and translocations.

a. Alterations of chromosomes can occur when unequal sizes of chromosome

segments are exchanged during meiosis, which results in deletion for one

chromosome and a duplication to the other. Deletions causes a shortening of the

chromosome; with the gene gone, the protein or instructions coded in that gene of

that chromosome are not found anymore. Duplication can occur to repeat the

same genes over. Inversion switches the order of the genes. For example, genes

ABC will become CBA if inverted. Translocation: Reciprocal is the trade of one

or more gene(s) between two non homologous chromosomes. Non reciprocal

transfers a segment but does not get any in return.

9. Give two examples of human disorders caused by an alteration of a chromosome.

a. Down syndrome is caused by trisomy of chromosome 21 in every cell of the

body. The alteration of the chromosome codes for proteins and others that

produce characteristic facial features and behavior.

b. Klinefelter syndrome is a human disorder caused by an altercation of sex

chromosomes in males, producing XXY rather than XY. This can cause small

testes and low sperm count.

10. What are extranuclear genes?

a. Genes that are outside of the nucleus. They are present in the mitochondria and

chloroplast and do not follow standard mendelian genetics as they are influenced

by sex. Extranuclear genes can stil cause many effects and diseases such as the

improper function of the mitochondria not producing sufficient ATP.