Non-Mendelian Patterns

of Inheritance
QUARTER 1 MODULE 3
➢A Mendelian pattern of inheritance
refers to reproducing organisms
sexually. We know that in Mendel’s
principles of heredity each parent gives
one of two possible alleles for a trait.
➢However, Non-Mendelian inheritance
is any pattern of inheritance wherein
traits do not segregate following
Mendel’s law. These laws describe the
inheritance of traits linked to single
genes on chromosomes in the nucleus.
Incomplete dominance.
➢Snapdragon flower is an
example of this pattern of
inheritance in which both alleles
are present resulting in an
intermediate phenotype.
A cross between a homozygous red-flowered plant (FRFR) and a homozygous white-flower
plant (FWFW) will produce offspring with pink flowers (FRFW) as shown in the F1
generation.
➢A cross between two heterozygotes
of F1 generation, however, will result
in an F2 generation with a
phenotype of 25% red flowers, 50%
pink flowers, and 25% white flowers
(phenotypic ratio of 1:2(blended
traits):1).
Codominance
➢Codominance is a heterozygote
condition wherein both traits are
present simultaneously, rather than
one fully determining the phenotype.
A speckled chicken is a good
example of dominance.
➢Cross between a black and white chicken will
produce chicken with both black and white
feathers. The alleles for black feathers in some
varieties of chicken is codominant with the allele
for white feathers.
➢Another example that shows how the co-
dominance pattern of inheritance is
determined by genes is in the blood typing
in humans.
➢An antigen is a protein- bound to a sugar
molecule found on the surface of our red
blood cells.
➢A pair of alleles (IA and IB) which controls
one group of antigens, help in determining
the blood types of an individual.
➢In the heterozygote condition, both
IA and IB alleles are expressed in
the red blood cells that will have the
antigens A and B.
➢Three alleles exist in the ABO
system: A, B, and O. This result in
four blood types: A, B, O, and the
blended AB.
Multiple Alleles: (ABO Blood Types)
➢A single gene that has more than two alleles is
called multiple alleles. The ABO blood groups in
humans as an example of a gene that has multiple
alleles is the one that controls the inheritance.
There are four blood group systems A, B, AB, and
O.
➢We know that there are three different alleles for
ABO blood types, however, only two are present in
an individual at a time.
➢ The IA and IB are dominant over the i
allele which is always recessive. However,
both alleles are expressed equally when
the two alleles are inherited together.
 Sex Chromosomes and Sex
Determination
➢Most humans have an XY sex-determination that is
responsible for the gender characterization of an individual.
Sex chromosomes control whether the organism will be a male
or a female.
➢Both males and females have 22 pairs of autosomal
chromosomes and a pair of sex chromosomes. Male brings X
and Y chromosomes, while both X chromosomes are in
females.
➢A male offspring will be produced when an egg fertilized by a
sperm passing on a Y chromosome. Similarly, a female
offspring will be a result of a fertilized egg through a sperm
carrying an X chromosome. Therefore, there is a fifty-percent
probability of having a male and female offspring.
Sex-Related Inheritance
➢Most of the time, more men in comparison to
women are bald while lactation or milk
production is common in women but certainly
not in men.
➢These are inherited characteristics determined
by sex.
➢The following are the three kinds of sex-related
inheritance namely:
▪ sex-limited
▪ sex-influenced
▪ sex-linked.
Sex-Limited Trait
➢Sex-limited traits are those traits limited to only one sex.
Lactation is a good example of a sex-limited trait that is
exclusively exhibited among females. However, cattle
carry genes for lactation on both males and females.
➢Lactating gene (L) is a dominant gene over the non-
lactating recessive gene (l). In female cattle carrying one
dominant gene (XXLl), or two dominant genes (XXLL)
lactation will be shown.
➢Nevertheless, neither male cattle having dominant genes
nor in male cattle that have recessive genes will lactate.
Sex-Influenced Traits
➢Sex-influenced traits are autosomal
traits that are expressed in both sexes
but more frequently in one than in the
other sex.
➢One classic example of this is pattern
baldness which is expressed in females
but is more often manifested in males.
➢The gene has two alleles, “bald” (B) and
“non-bald” (b), and these genes are highly
influenced by the hormones individually.
➢We know that all humans have testosterone,
but males have higher level of testosterone
than females do.
➢This shows that, although baldness alleles
(XYBB, XYBb, or XXBB) behave like a
dominant allele in males, they are recessive
in females (XXBb, XXb).
Sex-Linked Genes
➢Sex-linked genes are genes found either on
X or Y chromosomes which are inherited
differences among male and a female.
➢Sex-linked traits determined by an X-linked
gene when an X chromosome takes control.
➢On the other hand, the so- called Y-linked
genes are those located on the Y
chromosome.
➢Hemophilia, an example of an
X-linked trait is a rare genetic
disorder in which a person
lacks enough blood-clotting
proteins caused by a change in
one of the genes.
➢Since this phenomenon is sited
on the X chromosome, females
identified to have affected two
X chromosomes cause the
disorder.
➢But if there is only one
chromosome affected, the
female individual is referred to
as “carrier” of the disorder.
Color-blindness
➢Color-blindness is another condition of the
X-linked trait.
➢These traits will be manifested in females
who have two genes of color-blindness.
➢Meanwhile, in males, there is only one gene
of the disorder needed to express the
phenomenon.
Hypertrichosis pinnae auris
➢Hypertrichosis pinnae auris is a Y-linked trait controlled by a Y
chromosome and characterized by hairy ear in which are expressed
in males alone. This human condition can be inherited from a
father who has the disorder, to his sons who, in turn, will pass it
on to their sons.