Lecture 4 Flashcards
What is Penetrance?
The proportion of individual organisms having a particular genotype that express the expected phenotype - variation in the population
What is Expressivity?
The degree to which a phenotype is expressed (mild to severe); variation in the individual
The genotype does not have a consistent phenotype.
What is incomplete penetrance?
Identical known genotypes yield less than 100% expected phenotypes.
What is an example of incomplete penetrance?
Polydactyly (extra fingers and toes) is not fully penetrant. If only half the genotype for polydactyl have extra digits, you would say that it shoes 50% penetrance.
How do you deal with problems that have incomplete penetrance in the?
Multiple the probability of the parents having the disease by the percent given of the penetrance.
Example: 1/4 x 80% penetrance = 20%
How does the disease Piebaldism show Variable Expressivity?
It is a rare autosomal dominant disorder that involves the absence of cells called melanocytes (skin pigment) in certain areas of the skin and hair
Variable as patch could be anywhere on body (variable)
How does Huntington’s Disease show variable exppressivity?
It is a rare autosomal dominant disorder that causes cognitive decline and dementia
Variable as it can begin at different ages or people can have different symptoms.
What environmental conditions can cause phenotypic variation?
- Age
- Sex
- Temperature
- Chemicals
What is the norm of reaction?
The range of phenotypes expressed by a single genotype under different environmental conditions.
How does the Himalayan allele of rabbits demonstrate an environmental effect on phenotype?
The dark pigment only develops at low temperatures. The enzyme necessary for pigment production is inactivated at higher temperatures.
What is phenocopy?
A change in phenotype arising from environmental factors that mimic the effects of a mutation in a gene but is not found in the genotype
What is an example of phenocopy?
The chemical thalidomide (helps pregnant women from feeling nauseous) can produce a phenocopy of a rare dominant trait called phocomelia in which limb development is disrupted.
What does Mendel’s Law of Independent Assortment state?
The inheritance of one trait will not affect the inheritance pattern of another trait.
What is a Genetic Interaction?
Different combinations of alleles from two or more genes can result in different phenotypes, because of interactions at the cellular or biochemical level.
What is Complementation?
Occurs when two strains of an organism with different homozygous recessive mutations that produce the same phenotype, produce offspring of the wild type phenotype when mated or crossed.
When will complementation occur?
Only occur if the mutations are in different genes - not in the same gene.
What does the other genome do in complementation?
Supplies the wild-type allele to “complement” the mutated allele
What is a heterogenous trait?
A mutation in any one of a number of genes that can give rise to the same phenotype.
What happens if two parents are deaf for different genetic reasons?
Their children will not be deaf
What happens if the children are deaf for the same genetic reasons?
The children will all be deaf.
What is Epistasis?
The masking of the expression of one gene produced by another. No new phenotypes are produced.
What does the “epistatic gene” do?
The masking
What does the “hypostatic gene” do?
The one being masked.