ANS 202 Lecture Note

Aug 20, 2021

Patterns of inheritance

Inheritance is defined as the process by which genetic information or variation is transferred from
one generation to the other. The inheritance of a trait is presented in the following equation:

P=G+E
where P = phenotype, G = genotype and E = environment.
The physical expression of variation is termed the PHENOTYPE
Phenotype is a product of genotype and environment

Genotype is the genetic composition of an organism. It is an intrinsic factor that control

G
A NA

Where A = Additive component and NA = nonadditive component

Additive genetic effects occur when two or more genes make a single contribution to the final
phenotype, or when alleles of a single gene (in heterozygotes) combine so that their combined
effects equal the sum of their individual effects.
The NA component is include the DOMINANCE effect and the EPISTATIC effect

Gregor Mendel formulated the rules of particulate inheritance (inheritance based on genes) using
pea plants which have many single-gene traits with a dominant/recessive inheritance pattern.

Mendel noted that traits that disappear in the F1 reappear in the F2.
The F2 has a ratio of about three individuals with the phenotype of the F1 to one individual with
the “reappearing” phenotype.
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 – 3:1 ratio
– 3/4 to 1/4
Mendel reasoned that information to create the trait was present in the F1 in the form of “factors”
now called genes. Simple Mendelian inheritance involves two conditions;
i) a single gene with two different alleles and
ii) alleles display a simple dominant/recessive relationship.
This is the simplest inheritance pattern possible.
However, most economically important traits of plants and animals are NOT controlled this way.

Other patterns of inheritance that deviate from include:

a. Additive gene action: where the trait has a continuous phenotype controlled by additive
alleles at multiple genes. This means that the trait is not controlled by just one gene with
several alleles, but MULTIPLE genes (polygenic inheritance), each of which can have
multiple alleles. Example are plant height and live weight of animals: we have differences
in height down to fractions of an inch. Each height allele at each gene controlling height
contributes a ‘unit’ of height which is additive. Quantitative traits are in contrast to
discrete traits where the trait has only a few possible phenotypes which fall into discrete
classes (ie, peas are either round or wrinkly, and there are no in-between phenotypes).
b. Incomplete dominance: A type of inheritance where heterozygotes have an
intermediate phenotype in-between the two homozygous phenotypes. An example is
petal color in four-o’clock flowers, where homozygotes are either white or red, and
heterozygotes are pink. Each R allele contributes one ‘unit’ of petal color, while each r
allele contributes no ‘units’ of petal color. So two R alleles results in a red, one R allele
results in pink, and no R alleles results in white.
c. Co-dominance: where heterozygotes display each phenotype associated with each
allele. An example is AB blood type in humans, where the A allele results in one specific
type of sugar on a red blood cell, and B results in a different type of sugar on a red blood
cell. Two A alleles results in only A-type sugars, two B alleles results in only B-type
sugars, and the heterozygote has both A- and B-type sugars on the red blood cell. (Type
O results in no sugar; we’ll discuss this more in class.) Though they seem similar at first
glance, incomplete dominance and co-dominance are different from each other, and are
based on the molecular phenomenon underlying the trait.
d. X Linked: Inheritance of genes that are located on the X chromosome. In mammals and
fruit flies, males are hemizygous for x-linked genes, while females have two copies.

e. Lethal alleles: An allele that has the potential for causing the death of an organism.

f. Overdominance: Inheritance where heterozygotes have traits that are more beneficial than
homozygotes. e.g. sickle-cell trait. In other words, overdominance is the phenomenon in
which a heterozygote is more vigorous than both of the corresponding homozygotes. It is
also called heterozygote advantage. Overdominance is related to a common mating strategy
used by animal and plant breeders. Two different highly inbred strains are crossed.

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g. Gene-by-gene interactions: where the phenotype associated with one allele depends on
the allele(s) present at another gene. This is different from a quantitative trait where
alleles at multiple genes are additive. The gene-by-gene inheritance pattern can also be
called epistasis. The take home-message on gene-by-gene interactions is that this
phenomenon alters the expected phenotypic ratios of a Mendelian dihybrid cross (9:3:3:1)
to a different pattern.
h. Pleiotropy is the phenomenon where a single gene influences multiple, seemingly
unrelated traits.
i. Gene by environment interactions: where the environment plays a role in determining
phenotypic expression controlled by alleles. While these types of inheritance ‘violate’
Mendel’s rules for inheritance of single-gene discrete traits, they are all still controlled by
the behavior of chromosomes during meiosis. In addition, the single-gene inheritance
pattern Mendel discovered is actually pretty rare compared to all these other inheritance
patterns described above: most traits are controlled by one or more of the inheritance
patterns described above.

j. Multiple allelism:
Mendel's work suggested that just two alleles existed for each gene in an organism.
However, there are situations where a particular gene has more than two alleles. Multiple
alleles may exist in a population level, and different individuals in the population may have
different pairs of these alleles. Similarly, alleles aren't always fully dominant or recessive
to one another, but may instead display codominance or incomplete dominance.
An example is human blood type (described above) where the single gene controlling blood
type can be have an A, B, or O allele. Another good example is a gene that specifies coat
color in rabbits, called the CCCC gene. The CCCC gene comes in four common alleles:
CCCC, cchcchcchc, start superscript, c, h, end superscript, chchchc, start superscript, h, end
superscript, and cccc:

A CCCC, C rabbit has black or brown fur

A CchCch, rabbit has chinchilla coloration (grayish fur).

A ChCh, rabbit has Himalayan (color-point) patterning, with a white body and dark ears,
face, feet, and tail

A ccccc, c rabbit is albino, with a pure white coat.

k. Epistasis Gene Interaction

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 Types of Epistasis Gene Interaction

1. Recessive Epistasis [9:3:4 Ratio]:

When recessive alleles at one locus mask the expression of both (dominant and recessive) alleles
at another locus, it is known as recessive epistasis. This type of gene interaction is also known as
supplementary epistasis. A good example of such gene interaction is found for grain colour in
maize.

2. Dominant Epistasis [12 : 3 : 1 Ratio]:

When a dominant allele at one locus can mask the expression of both alleles (dominant and
recessive) at another locus, it is known as dominant epistasis. In other words, the expression of
one dominant or recessive allele is masked by another dominant gene. This is also referred to as
simple epistasis. An example of dominant epistasis is found for fruit colour in summer squash.

3. Dominant [Inhibitory] Epistasis [13 : 3 Ratio]:

In this type of epistasis, a dominant allele at one locus can mask the expression of both (dominant
and recessive) alleles at second locus. This is also known as inhibitory gene interaction. An
example of this type of gene interaction is found for anthocyanin pigmentation in rice.

4. Duplicate Recessive Epistasis [9 : 7 Ratio]:

When recessive alleles at either of the two loci can mask the expression of dominant alleles at the
two loci, it is called duplicate recessive epistasis. This is also known as complementary epistasis.
The best example of duplicate recessive epistasis if found for flower colour in sweet pea.

5. Duplicate Dominant Epistasis [15 : 1 Ratio]:

When a dominant allele at either of two loci can mask the expression of recessive alleles at the two
loci, it is known as duplicate dominant epistasis. This is also called duplicate gene action. A good
example of duplicate dominant epistasis is awn character in rice. Development of awn in rice is
controlled by two dominant duplicate genes (A and B).

6. Polymeric Gene Interaction [9:6:1 Ratio]:

Two dominant alleles have similar effect when they are separate, but produce enhanced effect
when they come together. Such gene interaction is known as polymeric gene interaction. The joint
effect of two alleles appears to be additive or cumulative, but each of the two genes show complete
dominance, hence they cannot be considered as additive genes. In case of additive effect, genes
show lack of dominance. A well-known example of polymeric gene interaction is fruit shape in
summer squash.