{"id":2748,"date":"2016-06-13T16:25:31","date_gmt":"2016-06-13T16:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/biologyxwaymakerxmaster\/?post_type=chapter&p=2748"},"modified":"2023-07-11T17:38:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T17:38:59","slug":"beyond-dominance-and-recessiveness","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/ivytech-wmopen-nmbiology\/chapter\/beyond-dominance-and-recessiveness\/","title":{"raw":"Beyond Dominance and Recessiveness","rendered":"Beyond Dominance and Recessiveness"},"content":{"raw":"

What you'll learn to do: Explain complications to the phenotypic expression of genotype, including mutations<\/h2>\r\nMendel's experiments with pea plants suggested the following:\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Two \"units\" or alleles exist for every gene.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Alleles maintain their integrity in each generation (no blending).<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. In the presence of the dominant allele, the recessive allele is hidden and makes no contribution to the phenotype.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nTherefore, recessive alleles can be \"carried\" and not expressed by individuals. Such heterozygous individuals are sometimes referred to as \"carriers.\" Further genetic studies in other plants and animals have shown that much more complexity exists, but that the fundamental principles of Mendelian genetics still hold true. In the sections to follow, we consider some of the extensions of Mendelism. If Mendel had chosen an experimental system that exhibited these genetic complexities, it's possible that he would not have understood what his results meant.\r\n
    \r\n

    Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n
      \r\n \t
    • Explain how a trait with incomplete dominance will appear in a population<\/li>\r\n \t
    • Explain how a trait with codominant inheritance will appear in a population<\/li>\r\n \t
    • Explain how a trait with sex-linkage will appear in a population<\/li>\r\n \t
    • Explain how mutli-allele inheritance will impact a trait within in a population<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

      Non-Mendelian Inheritance<\/h2>\r\n

      Incomplete Dominance<\/h3>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1406\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]\"Photo Figure\u00a01. These pink flowers of a heterozygote snapdragon result from incomplete dominance. (credit: \u201cstorebukkebruse\u201d\/Flickr)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nMendel's results, that traits are inherited as dominant and recessive pairs, contradicted the view at that time that offspring exhibited a blend of their parents' traits. However, the heterozygote phenotype occasionally does appear to be intermediate between the two parents.\r\n\r\nFor example, in the snapdragon, Antirrhinum majus<\/em> (Figure\u00a01), a cross between a homozygous parent with white flowers (CW<\/sup><\/i>CW<\/sup><\/i><\/em>) and a homozygous parent with red flowers (CR<\/sup><\/i>CR<\/sup><\/i><\/em>) will produce offspring with pink flowers (CR<\/sup><\/i>CW<\/sup><\/i><\/em>). (Note that different genotypic abbreviations are used for Mendelian extensions to distinguish these patterns from simple dominance and recessiveness.)\r\n\r\nThis pattern of inheritance is described as incomplete dominance<\/strong>, denoting the expression of two contrasting alleles such that the individual displays an intermediate phenotype. The allele for red flowers is incompletely dominant over the allele for white flowers. However, the results of a heterozygote self-cross can still be predicted, just as with Mendelian dominant and recessive crosses. In this case, the genotypic ratio would be 1 CR<\/sup><\/i>CR<\/sup><\/i><\/em>:2 CR<\/sup><\/i>CW<\/sup><\/i><\/em>:1 CW<\/sup><\/i>CW<\/sup><\/i><\/em>, and the phenotypic ratio would be 1:2:1 for red:pink:white.\r\n

      Codominant Inheritance<\/h3>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4144\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]\"A Figure\u00a02. Red Roan Horse[\/caption]\r\n\r\nA variation on incomplete dominance is\u00a0codominance<\/strong>, in which both alleles for the same characteristic are simultaneously expressed in the heterozygote.\r\n\r\nCodominance can also be seen in human blood types: the AB blood type is a result of both the\u00a0IA<\/sup><\/em> allele and the\u00a0IB<\/sup><\/em> allele being codominant. (An A blood type would only have the\u00a0\u00a0IA<\/sup><\/em> allele, and a B blood type would only have\u00a0\u00a0IB<\/sup><\/em> allele.)\r\n\r\nThe roan coat color in horses is also an example of codominance. A\u00a0\"red\" roan results from the mating of a chestnut parent and a white parent (Figure\u00a02). We know this is codominance because individual hairs are either chestnut or they are white, leading to the red roan overall appearance.\r\n
      \r\n

      Practice\u00a0Question<\/h3>\r\nSo what's the difference between incomplete dominance and codominant inheritance?\u00a0While they are very similar, the key difference is this: in incomplete dominance, the two traits are blended together, whereas\u00a0in codominance, both traits are expressed.\r\n\r\nWe've already discussed\u00a0incomplete dominance in flowers (Figure\u00a01). What do you think a flower would look like if the red and white phenotypes were codominant instead?\r\n\r\n[practice-area rows=\"2\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"528012\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"528012\"]The flower would have both red and white petals, like this Rhododendron:\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4139\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"350\"]\"A Codominance is shown in this rhododendron.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

      Sex-Linked Traits<\/h3>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1407\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"250\"]\"Photo Figure 3. In Drosophila, the gene for eye color is located on the X chromosome. Clockwise from top left are brown, cinnabar, sepia, vermilion, white, and red. Red eye color is wild-type and is dominant to white eye color.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn humans, as well as in many other animals and some plants, the sex of the individual is determined by sex chromosomes. The sex chromosomes are one pair of non-homologous chromosomes. Until now, we have only considered inheritance patterns among non-sex chromosomes, or\u00a0autosomes<\/strong>. In addition to 22 homologous pairs of autosomes, human females have a homologous pair of X chromosomes, whereas human males have an XY chromosome pair. Although the Y chromosome contains a small region of similarity to the X chromosome so that they can pair during meiosis, the Y chromosome is much shorter and contains many fewer genes. When a gene being examined is present on the X chromosome, but not on the Y chromosome, it is said to be X-linked<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nEye color in Drosophila<\/em> was one of the first X-linked traits to be identified. Thomas Hunt Morgan mapped this trait to the X chromosome in 1910. Like humans, Drosophila<\/em> males have an XY chromosome pair, and females are XX. In flies, the wild-type eye color is red (XW<\/sup><\/em>) and it is dominant to white eye color (Xw<\/sup><\/em>) (Figure 3). Because of the location of the eye-color gene, reciprocal crosses do not produce the same offspring ratios. Males are said to be hemizygous<\/strong>, because they have only one allele for any X-linked characteristic. Hemizygosity makes the descriptions of dominance and recessiveness irrelevant for XY males. Drosophila<\/em> males lack a second allele copy on the Y chromosome; that is, their genotype can only be XW<\/sup><\/em>Y or Xw<\/sup><\/em>Y. In contrast, females have two allele copies of this gene and can be XW<\/sup><\/em>XW<\/sup><\/em>, XW<\/sup><\/em>Xw<\/sup><\/em>, or Xw<\/sup><\/em>Xw<\/sup><\/em>.\r\n
      \r\n

      Practice Question<\/h3>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1409\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"725\"]\"This Figure 4. Punnett square analysis is used to determine the ratio of offspring from a cross between a red-eyed male fruit fly and a white-eyed female fruit fly.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nWhat ratio of offspring would result from a cross between a white-eyed male and a female that is heterozygous for red eye color?\r\n\r\n[practice-area rows=\"2\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"722618\"]Show Answer<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"722618\"]Half of the female offspring would be heterozygous (XW<\/sup><\/em>Xw<\/sup><\/em>) with red eyes, and half would be homozygous recessive (Xw<\/sup><\/em>Xw<\/sup><\/em>) with white eyes. Half of the male offspring would be hemizygous dominant (XW<\/sup><\/em>Y) with red yes, and half would be hemizygous recessive (Xw<\/sup><\/em>Y) with white eyes.[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nDiscoveries in fruit fly genetics can be applied to human genetics. When a female parent is homozygous for a recessive X-linked trait, she will pass the trait on to 100 percent of her offspring. Her male offspring are, therefore, destined to express the trait, as they will inherit their father's Y chromosome. In humans, the alleles for certain conditions (some forms of color blindness, hemophilia, and muscular dystrophy<\/strong>) are X-linked. Females who are heterozygous for these diseases are said to be carriers and may not exhibit any phenotypic effects. These females will pass the disease to half of their sons and will pass carrier status to half of their daughters; therefore, recessive X-linked traits appear more frequently in males than females.\r\n\r\nIn some groups of organisms with sex chromosomes, the gender with the non-homologous sex chromosomes is the female rather than the male. This is the case for all birds. In this case, sex-linked traits will be more likely to appear in the female, in which they are hemizygous.\r\n

      Non-Mendelian Punnett Squares<\/h2>\r\nThis practice activity will help you remember the difference between types of non-Mendelian inheritance and remember just how they work.\r\n\r\n