GENETICS REVIEW WRITTEN QUESTIONS

1.​ Identify the stage of cell division shown in the image above. Why is it that you cannot
be 100 percent certain?

This could be metaphase of mitosis or metaphase II of meiosis. Since this occurs in

both mitosis and meiosis, you cannot be certain. If the chromosomes are accurately
coloured in, it is most likely mitosis, since in meiosis the chromosomes would be
drawn to have parts of a different colour (since crossing over will have occurred).

2.​ What two terms can be used to describe the pictured item?

duplicated/replicated chromosome, sister chromatids

3.​ Compare and contrast asexual and sexual reproduction using the following terms:
haploid, diploid, gametes, zygote, meiosis, mitosis.
Asexual reproduction occurs in mitosis, where cells duplicate. Diploid cells undergo
mitosis.
Sexual reproduction occurs when gametes (haploid cells) join to form a zygote
(diploid). Meiosis occurs to create gametes.

4.​ Sketch and label homologous chromosomes during prophase I. Show synapsis,
crossing over, and centromere and allele locations in your sketch.
5.​ Explain how nondisjunction in either anaphase I or anaphase II can result in
monosomy or trisomy.
Nondisjunction occurs when either homologous chromosomes do not separate
properly or sister chromatids do not separate properly. Either results in having either 1
less or 1 extra chromosome in the final cell.
During anaphase I, if homologous chromosomes do not separate, the haploid cells
formed during telophase I will not have the correct chromosome number. One cell will
have one too few sister chromatids (monosomy) and the other will have one too many
after fertilization (trisomy).
During anaphase II, if sister chromatids go to the same poles, one cell will be
monosomic and the other will be trisomic after fertilization.

6.​ A black cat and a white cat have a litter of kittens that are all black. Which allele is
dominant: black or white? How do you know?
Black must be dominant since it is the trait that appears. White does not appear
because it is recessive and is masked by black. Dominant traits mask over recessive
traits. As long as offspring have one dominant allele, they will show the dominant trait.
 7.​ Tay-Sachs disease is an autosomal recessive hereditary disorder that causes an
abnormal build-up of fat in the brain tissue, eventually resulting in death at about four
years of age. Two heterozygous individuals marry and decide to have children. What is
the chance that they will have a child with Tay-Sachs disease?
There is a 25% chance they will have a child with Tay-Sachs disease since the child
must inherit both recessive alleles from each parent for this to occur.

T t

T TT Tt

t Tt tt

​
8.​ Explain why blood type is not considered a polygenic trait.
Polygenic traits occur along a broad continuum such as skin colour or height. Since
blood types are discrete (there are only 4 of them), they are not polygenic. There are
3 alleles that control blood type. Blood type is not determined along a continuum or
gradient, hence it is not polygenic.

9.​ The pedigree below shows the blood types of each labelled person (except for I-4 and
I-6).

a.​ What is the blood type of individual I-4? A

b.​ What is the blood type of individual I-6? A
c.​ What is the genotype of individual II-5? IAi
d.​ What is the percentage chance that couple II-4 and II-5 have another child that
has type O blood? 25%

10.​ An alien race called the Zeebs has three skin tones: purple, yellow, and purple with
yellow spots.
a.​ What type of inheritance is this? co-dominance
b.​ Show the results of a cross between a purple and a yellow Zeeb.

CP CP

CY CPCY CPCY
CY CPCY CPCY
All (100%) purple with yellow spots

11.​ A new nurse at the hospital has made a terrible mistake. When she bathed three
children, she removed their wristbands and does not know which baby is which. She
looks up the records of the children and sees that the Jones parents have type A and
type B blood, the Smith parents have type O blood, and the Johnson parents have
type AB and type O blood. How can she match the babies back to their parents?
Explain your reasoning.
A baby with type O blood could belong to the Jones or Smith parents since the
parents carry or could carry the i alleles for type O blood. A type A or B baby could
belong to the Jones or Johnson parents.
She would need to determine the genotypes of the Jones parents in order to be
certain since it is unknown if they are homozygous or heterozygous. She could do this
by asking the blood types of the parents’ parents and use a pedigree to determine
possible outcomes.
The Smith baby can only be type O.
The Jones baby can be type A, B, AB, or O.
The Johnson baby can be type A or B.

12.​ The pedigree shown is for hemophilia.

What are the genotypes of:

a.​ I-1 XHXh
b.​ I-2 XHY
c.​ II-1 XhY
d.​ II-4 XHY
e.​ Determine the chance that individual III-1 and a person with the same genotype
as individual II-3 will have a child that is hemophilic.

XH Xh

Xh XHXh XhXh

Y XHY XhY
There is a 50% chance they will have a child that is hemophilic.
 13.​ Describe the characteristics you would look for in a pedigree to determine if a trait is
inherited through:
a.​ autosomal dominance trait appears in successive generations, parents may
have child with different phenotype
b.​ autosomal recessive trait can skip a generation, if both parents have the trait
then all their children must have the trait
c.​ Sex-linkage occurs more in males, skips a generation in males

14.​ In guinea pigs, black hair colour (B) is dominant and brown hair colour (b) is recessive.
Long hair (L) is dominant and short hair (l) is recessive. Answer the following questions:
a.​ Diagram the cross: BbLl × BbLL

BL Bl bL bl

BL BBLL BBLl BbLL BbLl

BL BBLL BBLl BbLL BbLl

bL BbLL BbLl bbLL bbLl

bL BbLL BbLl bbLL bbLl

b.​ What are the phenotypes of the parent generation?

Both have black and long hair.
c.​ What are the genotypes and phenotypes of the F 1 generation?
Genotypes: 12.5% of BBLL, BBLl, bbLl and 25% BbLL and BbLl
Phenotpes: 75% black and long hair, 25% brown and long hair

15.​ SpongeBob loves growing flowers for his pal Sandy! Her favourite flowers, Poofkins,
are found in red, blue, and purple (note that red + blue = purple). What would happen
if SpongeBob crossed a Poofkin with red flowers with a Poofkin with blue flowers?
Complete the Punnett square to determine the chances of each flower colour and
answer the questions below.

C (red) C

C’ (blue) CC’ CC’

C’ CC’ CC’
All offspring would be purple.
a.​ Give the genotypes and phenotypes for the offspring.
b.​ How many of the plants would have red flowers? 0%
c.​ How many of the plants would have purple flowers? 100%
d.​ How many of the plants would have blue flowers? 0%