lecture 14: beyond mendel Flashcards
Do most characters follow Mendelian rules?
No, most have more complicated patterns of inheritance as Mendel’s principles of genetics are rather simplistic
What are examples of characters that follows a more complicated pattern than Mendelian rules?
Height, skin colour…
What is autosomal inheritance?
Inheritance of characters governed by genes on autosomes
What is sex-linked inheritance?
Inheritance of characters governed by genes on sex chromosomes (X or Y)
- Sex-linked characters are inherited differently in males and in females
Where was sex-linked inheritance first discovered?
in fruit flies
What is a wild-type trait?
The most common phenotype for each character
- uppercase W = dominant wild-type allele
What is a mutant trait?
Less common phenotype attributable to a mutation in a gene (recessive mutant allele)
- Lowercase w
- The gene is named after the mutant phenotype
What is the mutant eye colour of fruit flies?
White = ww
What is the wild-type eye colour of fruit flies?
Red = WW or Ww (dominant allele)
How was sex-linked inheritance discovered in fruit flies?
Reciprocal crosses produce DIFFERENT phenotype results in males and females —> so the sex/trait combo (mother with red eyes with father with white eyes, mother with white eyes with father with red eyes, etc) MATTERED in the inheritance pattern
How is sex defined in animals?
- with sex chromosomes
- X/Y chromosome system in mammals, but other sex determination systems exist too
- sex determination can also be controlled by the environment (ex: sex determined by nest temperature in alligators)
What are the difference between X and the Y sex chromosome and their roles?
- X = bigger and Y = smaller —> only two small homologous parts at top and bottom called pseudoautosomal regions (PARs) —> these parts allo these chromosomes to behave as homologues during meiosis —> PARs contain genes for development of males and females
- X chromosome genes = essential for development of females and males
- Y = only necessary for male development and male fertility
What are the two types of sex-linked inheritance?
- X-linked: character governed by a gene on the X chromosome
- Y-linked: character governed by a gene on Y chromosome
Is eye colour in fruit flies X or Y-linked?
X-linked —> only exist on X chromosomes
What were the 3 possible genotypes for eye colour in female fruit flies vs the 2 possible genotypes for male fruit flies?
FEMALE:
- X(W)X(W) = red
- X(W)X(w) = red
- X(w)X(w) = white
MALE:
- X(W)Y = red
- X(w)Y = white
—> so mutant eye colour (white) is more common in males (50% chance)