Gene actions

Introductory- Animal Breeding

Sirjan Bastola
2019-06-17
 Course content (Animal Breeding)

1) Concept of heritability and repeatability

2) Breeding values, dominance and epistasis values
3) Variance and different gene actions
4) Inbreeding, coefficient of inbreeding and relationship, measure of
inbreeding and relationship, resemblance among relatives, inbreeding
methods for development of breed, strain, line and family
5) Different mating systems crossing in light of cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat,
pig and poultry
6) Lab animals, their breeding, handling and uses
7) Selection, selection parameters, principles, methods, basis and genetic
effect of selection
8) Effective selection procedure for genetic improvement of cattle, buffalo,
goat, sheep, pig and poultry
9) Breeding plan, special breeding plan for cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig
and poultry
 Lecture outline

1) Gene actions
2) Variance
3) Heritability
4) Repeatability
5) Genetic model
6) Breeding values
7) Selection
8) Mating systems
9) Inbreeding
10) Lab animals and their breeding
Mendelian Inheritance

 Mendel’s laws of inheritance

 Mendel’s monohybrid cross
 Mendel’s dihybrid cross
Mendel’s laws of inheritance (I, II and III)
Mendel’s monohybrid cross
P1 cross
Mendel’s monohybrid cross
Mendel’s dihybrid cross

Mendelian Sampling
The random sampling of parental genes
caused by segregation and independent
assortment of genes during gamete
formation and by random selection of
gametes in the formation of embryo.
 Gene Action

Additive gene action Non- additive gene action

Dominance Epistasis

1) Complete Dominance 1) Dominant

2) Incomplete Dominance 2) Recessive
3) Co-Dominance 3) Duplicate Dominant
4) Over Dominance 4) Duplicate Recessive
5) No Dominance 5) Dominant Recessive
Interaction
6) Duplication genes
with cumulative effect
Dominance
1) Complete Dominance
2) Incomplete Dominance
3) Co-Dominance
4) Over Dominance
5) No Dominance
 (Complete) Dominance
 Example- Polled/ horned condition in cattle
Horned Hereford bull Polled Angus cow

F1 pp PP

F2 P p Pp
PP Pp
 P allele for polled is completely dominant
P over p allele for horned
 Definition
Pp pp Form of dominance in which the expression
p of heterozygote is identical to the expression
of homozygous dominant genotype
 Incomplete (Partial) Dominance
 Example- Feather colour in Andalusian chicken

Definition
- One allele is partially dominant to other blending of phenotype
(dominant allele is not fully expressed)
- Expression of heterozygote is intermediate to the expression of
homozygous genotypes and more closely resembles the expression of
homozygous dominant genotype
Incomplete Dominance: Flower colour in Snapdragon
 Co-Dominance
 Example: Roan coat colour in Shorthorn cattle

Red Shorthorn bull White Shorthorn cow

RR WW

R W
R W
Roan coat colour RR R W

R
 Both alleles of a gene are dominant
and expressed in heterozygote
 Expressed phenotype is the combination R W WW
of phenotypes of both alleles W
 Human ABO blood group system is an example of both
Multiple allelism and Co-dominance
 Over Dominance

 Expression of heterozygote is more extreme than

both of homozygotes
 Heterozygote expresses the phenotype outside of
range of homozygote phenotypes
 BUT most closely resembles the expression of
homozygous dominant phenotype
 Often called “Superior heterozygote” but “Extreme”
might be more correct.
 Example- survivability in wild rats
Resistance to warfarin poisoning Susceptible to warfarin
But needs higher Vit K poisoning

Vit K

RR rr

Wanna try cakes

not Vit K

 With respect to survivability,

warfarin locus displays
over dominance

Rr
Resistance to warfarin
Can survive Vit K deficiency
 Epistasis
 Derived from ancient Greek work for “stoppage”
 It is phenomenon in which effect of one gene or gene pair
(epistatic) at one locus masks or modifies the effect of another
gene or gene pair (hypostatic) at another locus
 Epistasis alters the Mendel’s dihybrid phenotypic ratio of 9:3:3:1.
 Types
1) Dominant
2) Recessive
3) Duplicate Dominant
4) Duplicate Recessive
5) Dominant Recessive Interaction
6) Duplicate Genes with Cumulative Effect
 Dominant Epistasis

Gray Black Chestnut

G_ _ _ ggE _ ggee

GgEe GgEe
GE Ge gE ge
GGEE GGEe GgEE GgEe
GE  Dominant allele at one locus
is epistatic over dominant allele
at another locus
GGEe GGee GgEe Ggee  Example- coat colour in horse
Ge
 G is epistatic over E and results
GgEE GgEe ggEE ggEe gray colour
gE

GGEe Ggee ggEe ggee

ge
Dominant Epistasis-Feather colour in chicken
White Leg Horn White Wyandotte

AABB aabb

 White Leg Horn is white due to

epistatic gene B.
 White Wyandotte is white due to
absence of dominant gene A.

 B is epistatic to A
 A produces color only in absence
of B (AAbb, Aabb and Aabb)
 a, B and b produce no colour
Recessive Epistasis

Chocolate Yellow Black

(bbE_) (_ _ ee) (B_E_)

 Homozygous recessive alleles of a gene

are epistatic over dominant allele of
another gene
 Example- coat colour in Labrador Retrievers
 ee is epistatic over B and results yellow
coat colour
Duplicate Dominant (or Dominant Duplicate) Epistasis

 Dominant allele at either of two loci is

epistatic over the recessive alleles at both loci.
 Example- Seed capsule of shepherd’s purse
Capsella bursa-pastoris
 Both A and B are epistatic over both aa and bb
 Duplicate (or Reciprocal) Recessive Epistasis
Albino Albino

X
aaBB AAbb

Pigmented
AaBb
Intercross
AB Ab aB ab
AABB AABb AaBB AaBb  Homozygous recessive alleles of either
gene is epistatic towards dominant
AB allele of another gene (or locus).
AABb AAbb AaBb Aabb  Example- Albinism in fresh water snail
Ab Physa heterostroha
 aa is epistatic towards B and bb is
aB AaBB AaBb aaBB aaBb
epistatic towards A
 9/16 A_B_ pigmented
AaBb Aabb aaBb aabb 3/16 aaB_
ab 3/16 A_bb Albino
1/16 aabb
 Dominant Recessive Interaction
White Leg Horn Plymouth Rock

X
 White Leg Horn is white due to
CCII ccii epistatic gene I.
 Plymouth Rock is white due to
absence of dominant gene C.
white
CcIi

CI Ci cI ci
CCII CCIi CcII CcIi  Dominant alleles of one gene locus A in
CI homozygous (AA) or heterozygous (Aa) and
homozygous recessive alleles (bb) of
CCIi CCii CcIi Ccii another gene locus B produce the same
Ci phenotype.
 Example- Feather color in fowl
CcII CcIi ccII ccIi  C is hypostatic to I and
cI
expresses itself in presence of ii.
CcIi Ccii ccIi ccii
ci
 Duplicate genes with cumulative effect
Sandy Sandy
 Certain phenotypic trait depends on
dominant alleles at both loci.
 Dominant condition at either locus
RRss rrss (not both) produces the same
phenotype.
 But dominant condition at both loci
produces a different phenotype.
 Example- coat colour of Duroc-Jersey
RrSs pigs
 The interaction is also called
mutually supplementary. R and S
are mutually supplementary genes.
RS Rs rS rs
RRSS RRSs RrSS RrSs
RS
9 Red
Rs RRSs RRss RrSs Rrss

RrSS RrSs rrSS rrSs 6 Sandy

rS
RrSs Rrss rrSs rrss
rs 1 White
Gene Interaction??
 Non- additive gene action

Dominance Epistasis

1) Complete Dominance 1) Dominant

2) Incomplete Dominance 2) Recessive
3) Co-Dominance 3) Duplicate Dominant
4) Over Dominance 4) Duplicate Recessive
5) No Dominance 5) Dominant Recessive
Interaction
6) Duplication genes
with cumulative effect
Dominance Vs Epistasis ??
 Summary
Non-additive interactions Example F2 phenotypic ratio

Dominance
1) Complete Dominance
2) Incomplete Dominance
3) Co-Dominance
4) Over Dominance
Epistasis
1) Dominant
2) Recessive
3) Duplicate Dominant
4) Duplicate Recessive

5) Dominant Recessive
interaction
6) Duplicate genes with
cumulative effect
 Search Assignment
1) Simply inherited, Polygenic and multifactorial traits
2) Qualitative, quantitative and threshold traits
3) Spider syndrome in sheep (?) and Hyperkalemic
Periodic Paralysis (HYPP) in horse (?)
4) Summer squash (Dominant epistasis and
Duplicate genes with cumulative effect)
5) Supplementary, complimentary, pleiotropic and
collaborator genes
6) Types of gene interaction
(Intragenic and Intergenic)