Non-Mendelian Genetics

Objectives
⚫ Differentiate the concepts of Mendelian
and Non-Mendelian inheritance;
⚫ Explain the different patterns of non-
Mendelian inheritance;
⚫ Analyze monohybrid crosses involving
non-Mendelian patterns of inheritance;
and
⚫ Describe complex patterns of inheritance.
 Mendelian Genetics
(Complete Dominance)
⚫ Only two possible Phenotypes: either
dominant or recessive

⚫ Tall plant X Short plant = Tall plant

(TT) (tt) (Tt)
 Non-Mendelian Genetics
⚫ But, not all inheritance is based on the
rules of Complete Dominance!!
 Non-Mendelian Inheritance

⚫ Any pattern of inheritance in

which traits do not segregate
in accordance with Mendel’s
laws.
 Incomplete Inheritance
⚫The hybrid (heterozygous) offspring
displays a THIRD Phenotype!! Neither trait
is completely dominant, as a result, there
appears to be a blending phenotype.
Red Flower X White Flower = Pink
(RR) (rr) (Rr)
How does Incomplete
Dominance work?
Incomplete Inheritance Problem
⚫ What is the probability of pink flowers if
pink flowers are bred with red flowers?

50%
chance
of Pink
Flowers
Incomplete Inheritance Problem
⚫ What is the probability of white flowers if
pink flowers are bred with pink flowers?
Japanese Four O’clock
(Mirabilis jalapa)
 CoDominance
⚫ Both traits are dominant, and show up in
the phenotype together. Co means
“together”
⚫ Black Cow X White Cow = Spotted Cow
(BB) (WW) (BW)
 CoDominance Problem
⚫ What are all the possible phenotypes
when two spotted cows are bred?

Possible
phenotypes
are a black
cow, 2
spotted
cows, and a
white cow
 Codominance occurs in:
 Shorthorn Cow (White
+ Red)
 Blue Roosters (White
+ Black)
 Human Blood Typing
(AB)
 Tabby Cats (Black
and Tan Fur)
 Codominance: More Examples
Rhododendron Roan coloration in cows
coloration (red coat with white
blotches)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Co- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Light_Roan_Shorthorn_Heifer_DSCN18
dominance_Rhododendron.jpg 72b.jpg

S-B-8-1_Non-Mendelian Heredity PowerPoint

Codominance: Both alleles of a gene
pair are expressed.
Example: Human Blood Types
⚫ Human blood type is determined by codominant
alleles. There are three different alleles: IA, IB, and i.
The IA and IB alleles are codominant, and the i allele
is recessive.
⚫ The possible human phenotypes for blood group are
type A, type B, type AB, and type O.
⚫ Type A and B individuals can be either homozygous
(IAIA or IBIB, respectively), or heterozygous (IAi or
IBi, respectively). Type O is IOIO.
 “I” in blood Genotype
“I” designation in blood typing stands for
“isoagglutinogen” another term for Antigen.

Antigens in blood are A, B , both (AB) or

none (O)

Antigen = a substance or a marker that a

pathogen carries and that stimulates the
production of antibodies
= reacts with specific immune
response
Blood Type Problems
If a woman with AB blood
has children with a man
who has type O, what will
be the possible genotypes
of their children? What will
be their blood types?

I A I B

i I A i IB i
i I A i IB i
Blood Type Problems
Blood Type Problem 2: A
woman with type B blood
has a child with type O
blood. How is this possible
if her husband has type A
blood?
 Multiple Alleles

- is when there are more than

two allele possibilities for a
gene.
 Multiple Alleles

In traits with multiple alleles, each individual can

carry any two of the several possible alleles.

Ex. BLOOD TYPE

The gene for blood type has 3 possible alleles.

A, B, or O
Blood Type
 Blood Type

Practice Problems:
1. A mother is AB and a father is O. Draw the
punnett square.
A B
O
O

What is the probability their offspring will have A

type blood?

Can they have an offspring with O blood?

 Blood Type

2. A mother is AO and a father is BB. Draw the

punnett square.

What is the probability their offspring will have B

type blood?

Can they have an offspring with O blood?

 Blood Type

3. If a child has AB blood which of the

following could NOT be the parents?
a) OO, AB
b) AO, BB
c) BB, AA
d) AO,BO
 Let’s Practice
 Could a man with AB blood have an AB child
with a woman with type O blood?

 If a child has type B blood, what are all the

possible blood types for his/her parents?

 A paternity test is being performed. The child

has type O blood. The mother is type A.
Potential Dad #1 has type AB blood. Potential
Dad #2 has type O blood. Who is the father?

 Challenge: What two parents could produce the

most diverse children as far as blood type is
concerned?
 Polygenic Traits
⚫ occur when two or more different
genes influence the outcome of a
single trait
⚫ Interaction between allelic or
nonallelic genes of the same
genotype in the production of
particular phenotypic characters
 The
interaction of
two genes
 Comb shape in chickens
• These can come in four shapes which are
controlled by two non-linked genes P and
R
• Each gene has two alleles, one dominant
(P and R) and one recessive (p and r)
• Crossing Pure breeding Rose type (ppRR)
with Peas (PPrr) type gives Walnut (PpRr)
as the F1
 Comb shape in chickens

An incestuous cross of the Walnut F1

produces all four types of comb in the F2

PR Pr pR pr
PR Walnut Walnut Walnut Walnut
Pr Walnut Pea Walnut Pea
pR Walnut Walnut Rose Rose
pr Walnut Pea Rose Single
 Unusual ratios
• Coat colour in mice is controlled by at
least two genes
• A, the Agouti or Mousy gene and C the
Expression of coat colour gene
• The recessive a allele give Black and the
recessive c allele gives Albino
• The cc genotype is said to be epistatic to
the A gene
• cc switches off the A gene.
 Coat colour in mice
Crossing two mice AaCc what ratio of offspring
are produced?

AC Ac aC ac
AC
Ac
aC
ac
 Coat colour in mice

AC Ac aC ac
AC AACC AACc AaCC AaCc
Ac AACc AAcc AaCc Aacc
aC AaCC AaCc aaCC aaCc
ac AaCc Aacc aaCc aacc
 Coat colour in mice

AC Ac aC ac
AC Mousy Mousy Mousy Mousy
Ac Mousy Albino Mousy Albino
aC Mousy Mousy Black Black
ac Mousy Albino Black Albino
 Coat colour in mice

Phenotype Mousy Black Albino (white)

Proportions 9/16 3/16 4/16

 Sex-linked Inheritance
⚫ Genes for some traits are found on the sex
chromosomes (X or Y)
⚫ Most of these traits are recessive the normal
gene is dominant
⚫ Heterozygous Females (XXc) are carriers. They
do not show the trait, but carry a gene for the
trait.
⚫ Homozygous Females (XcXc) have the trait
⚫ Males with the gene (XcY) have the trait.—They
do not have another X to counterbalance the
affected gene
 X-linked recessive disorder -
Red Green Colour Blindness
⚫ Inability to distinguish between red and green
⚫ A red green colour blind person does not see the
number 29 on the right
⚫ In humans normal vision (C) is
completely dominant to red-green colour
blindness (c)
 Genetics of Colour Blindness
⚫ Normal vision C
⚫ Red-green colour blindness c
⚫ These alleles are sex-linked because...
⚫ Heterozygous females are called carriers
(Cc)
Although they are unaffected themselves
there is a 1 in 2 chance (50%) chance that
they will pass the allele on to each of the
offspring.
 Five possible genotypes for
normal and red-green colour
blindness
Genotype Phenotype
X CX C Female with normal colour vision
X CX c Female (carrier) with normal colour vision.
XcXc Female with colour blindness (very rare e.g.
0.5%)
X CY Male with normal colour vision
XcY Male with colour blindness more common
(8%)
Why is colour blindness more
common in males?

⚫ Red green colour blindness is rare in

females since 2 recessive alleles must
be inherited.
⚫ It is more common in males where only
one is needed.
 Color blindness is a sex-linked
recessive trait. The gene for this trait is
inherited through the X chromosome.

If a woman with normal vision

has children with a man
who is colorblind, Xc Y
what are the chances
that their children will be X XX c XY
colorblind?
Will any children be carriers
of the trait? X XXc XY
S-B-8-1_Non-Mendelian Heredity PowerPoint

Red-Green Colorblindness

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Ishihara_9.png
S-B-8-1_Non-Mendelian Heredity PowerPoint

Solving Sex-Linked Problems

A woman who is a carrier for red-green
colorblindness marries a man with normal sight.
What percent of the male and female children will
be red-green colorblind or carriers?

STEP 1: XX' XY STEP 6:

STEP 2: X, X' X, Y 50% Normal

STEP 3: 50% Carriers
X Y 50% Normal
STEP 4:
X XX XY 50% Colorblind
STEP 5:
X' XX' X'Y
 Haemophilia: mutated form of
factor VIII in platelets
⚫ Haemophiliacs cannot make the blood clotting
protein Factor VIII.
⚫ This is a problem with blood clotting. So, if a
tissue is damaged and blood vessels are
broken, bleeding continues for longer than
normal.
⚫ Some bleeding is obvious such as when the
skin is cut or broken. Others are less easy to
spot like bleeding into or around the joints.
 X-linked recessive disorder -
Haemophilia
⚫ It caused by a recessive allele
carried on the X (e.g. The gene is
located on the non-homologous
region of the x-chromosome) but
not the Y chromosome.
⚫ The haemophiliac allele (Xh)is
recessive to the normal allele
(XH).
⚫ Hence is sex-linked.
 More common in males than
females
⚫ Haemophilia is more common in men than
women.
⚫ Fequency in britian is 1:5000
⚫ Males inherit the allele from their mother and
develop the disease.
⚫ Since (until recently) the prognosis for survival
was poor and haemophiliac males did not survive
to pass on the allele to their daughters (its on the
X-chromosome). Therefore females with
haemophilia where rare.
There is now treatment -FYI
⚫ ‘Clotting factor
concentrates’
revolutionised
haemophilia care
allowing patients to
travel, have jobs, and
live full and independent
lives.
⚫ Transfusion with whole
blood and plasma.
Sex-Limited, Sex-Linked, and
Sex-Influenced Traits
Some traits are carried on the sex
chromosomes, X and Y. Most traits carried
are present on only the X-chromosome. The
Y-chromosome is smaller, and so, very few
genes are located on this chromosome.
Sex traits can be categorized into
three types of inheritance:
sex-limited,
sex-linked, and
sex-influenced.
 Sex-Limited
Sex-limited traits are traits that
are visible only within one sex.
For instance, barred coloring
in chickens normally is visible
only in the roosters.
Phenotypic expression of
different genotypes for
plumage of two different sex of
poultry

Genotypes Males females

HH Hen feathered Hen feathered
Hh Hen feathered Hen feathered
hh Cock feathered Hen feathered
Sex-limited trait sample problem
A hen and a rooster were crossed. The genotype of
the hen is h+h+ while the genotype of the male
chicken is h+ h. What are the possible genotypes and
phenotypes of their offspring?
Genotypes Males females

HH Hen feathered Hen feathered

Hh Hen feathered Hen feathered

hh Cock feathered Hen feathered

Genotypes
 SEX INFLUENCED TRAITS
Sex-influenced traits
are autosomal traits
that are influenced by
sex. If a male has one
recessive allele, he will
show that trait, but it
will take two recessive
for the female to show
that same trait. One
such gene is baldness.
 SEX INFLUENCED
GENOTYP FEMALE PHENOTYPE MALE PHENOTYPE
E

XB XB NORMAL FEMALE NORMAL MALE

XB Xb NORMAL FEMALE BALD MALE

(RECESSIVE)

Xb Xb BALD FEMALE BALB MALE

Problem:
Male patterned baldness is a GENOTYP
recessive sex-linked trait on the x E

chromosome. A woman, whose father

had a male patterned baldness
marries a man with this trait. What is
the probability that their son be born
with male patterned baldness.