Learning Genetics Can Be Fun

1. For Labrador retrievers, black fur is dominant to yellow.

a) Explain how two black dogs can have different genotypes.
b) Could a black dog have the same genotype as a yellow dog?
c) How could two black dogs have a yellow pup?

2. A pea plant with round seeds is crossed with a pea plant that has wrinkled seeds. For the cross, indicate each of the
following:
a) the genotype of each of the parents if the round seed plant is heterozygous.
b) the gametes produced by the parents
c) the genotypes and phenotypes of the F1 generation
d) the F2 generation if two round plants from the F1 generation were crossed

3. A pea plant with a tall phenotype is pollinated by a short plant, and the seeds of the first generation hybrid produce 327
tall plants and 321 short plants. Give the genotypes of all the plants.

4. In a certain species of plant, one purebred variety has hairy leaves and another pure variety has smooth leaves. A cross of
the 2 varieties produces offspring that all have smooth leaves. Predict the ratio of phenotypes in the F2 generation.
5. In summer squash, white fruit color (yep, its a fruit) is dominant and yellow is recessive. A squash plant that is
homozygous for white is crossed with a homozygous yellow one. Predict the appearance of
a) the F1 generation
b) the F2
c) the offspring of a cross between an F1 individual and a homozygous white individual.

6. For Dalmatian dogs, the spotted condition is dominant to non-spotted.

a) Using a Punnett square, show the cross between two heterozygous parents.
b) A spotted female Dalmatian dog is mated to an unknown male. From the appearance of the pups, the owner concludes
that the unknown male was a Dalmatian. The owner notes that the female had six pups, three spotted and three non-spotted.
What are the genotype and phenotype of the unknown male?

7. In horses, the trotter characteristic is dominant to the pacer characteristic. A male trotter mates with three different
females, and each female produces a foal. The first female, a pacer, gives birth to a foal that is a pacer. The second female,
also a pacer, gives birth to a foal that is a trotter. The third female, a trotter, gives birth to a foal that is a pacer. Determine
the genotypes of the male, all three females, and the three foals sired.

8. Imagine for hair color that B gives brown hair and b gives blonde hair. Use a Punnett square to determine the following
in a cross of two heterozygous parents.
a) What are the chances of the offspring being homozygous brown haired?
b) What are the chances of the offspring having blonde hair?
c) What are the chances of the offspring being heterozygous brown haired?
d) What is the genotypic ratio?
e) What is the phenotypic ratio?
f) Is there a heterozygous blonde haired offspring? Why?
g) If curly hair is dominant to straight hair, what letters will we use to show these genes?
h) A heterozygous curly haired male marries a straight haired female. What are their genotypes?
i) What would be the gametes for the male parent?
j) What would be the gametes for the female parent?
k) What are the chances of the offspring being homozygous curly haired?
l) What are the chances of the offspring having straight hair?
m) What are the chances of the offspring being heterozygous curly haired?
n) What is the genotypic ratio?
o) What is the phenotypic ratio?
p) Is there a heterozygous straight haired offspring? Why?
9. Thalassemia is a serious human genetic disorder that causes severe anemia. The homozygous condition (T mTm) leads to
severe anemia. People with thalassemia die before sexual maturity. The heterozygous condition (T mTn) causes a less serious
form of anemia. The genotype TnTn causes no symptoms of the disease. Indicate the possible genotypes and phenotypes of
the offspring if a male with the genotype TmTn marries a female of the same genotype.

10. In pea plants, tall is dominant to short and yellow is dominant to green. Show the F 1 and F2 results of a cross between a
homozygous tall pea plant that produces yellow seeds, and a short plant that produces green seeds.

11. In guinea pigs, black coat color (B) is dominant to white (b), and short hair length (S) is dominant to long (s). Indicate
the genotypes and phenotypes from the following crosses:
a) Homozygous for black, heterozygous for short hair guinea pig crossed with a white, long hair guinea pig.
b) Heterozygous for black and short hair guinea pig crossed with a white, long hair guinea pig.
c) Homozygous for black and long hair crossed with a heterozygous black and short hair guinea pig.
d) For each of these crosses, give the probability that an offspring will have:
(i) black coat, long hair
(ii) black coat, short hair
(iii) white coat, long hair

12. For guinea pigs, black fur is dominant to white fur color. Short hair is dominant to long hair. A guinea pig that is
homozygous for white and homozygous for short hair is mated with a guinea pig that is homozygous for black and
homozygous for long hair. Indicate the phenotype(s) of the F1 generation. If two hybrids from the F1, generation are mated,
determine the phenotypic ratio of the F2 generation.

13 Black coat color (B) in cocker spaniels is dominant to white coat color (b). Solid coat pattern (S) is dominant to spotted
pattern (s). The pattern arrangement is located on a different chromosome than the one for color, and its gene segregates
independently of the color gene. A male that is black with a solid pattern mates with three females. Indicate the genotypes
of the parents.
a) The mating with female A, which is white, solid, produces four pups: two black, solid, and two white, solid.
b) The mating with female B, which is black, solid, produces a single pup, which is white, spotted.
c) The mating with female C, which is white, spotted, produces four pups: one white, solid; one white spotted; one black,
solid; one black, spotted.

14. T = Tall, t = short B = brown hair, b = blonde hair

Cross a homozygous tall, heterozygous brown haired male with a heterozygous tall, blonde haired female. Use a Punnett
square to show parents and gametes.
a) What is the phenotypic ratio?
b) How many offspring are homozygous for both characteristics?
c) How many offspring are heterozygous for both characteristics?

15. Assume that curly hair (C) is dominant to straight hair (c). Albinism is a condition in which cells which normally
produce pigment do not do so. The allele for skin albinism (a) is recessive to the normal allele (A). A woman with curly hair
and albinism and a man with straight hair and normal pigmentation have a child that has straight hair and is an albino. What
are the genotypes of the parents?

16. PKU is a recessive disorder. Suppose two people who were heterozygous for PKU (i.e., are carriers) married. What is
the probability of each of the following?
a) All three of their children will be of normal phenotype.
b) One or more of the children will have the disease.
c) All three children have the disease.
d) At least one child will be phenotypically normal.
(Remember that the probabilities of all possible outcomes always ad up to 1)

17. For chickens, the gene for rose comb (R) is dominant to that for single comb (r). The gene for feather legged (F) is
dominant to that for clean legged (f). Four feather legged, rose combed birds mate. Rooster A and hen C produce offspring
that are all feather legged and mostly rose combed. Rooster A and hen D produce offspring that are feathered and clean, but
all have rose combs. Rooster B and hen C produce birds that are feathered and clean. Most of the offspring have rose
combs, but some have single combs. Determine the genotypes of the parents.
18. In a disputed paternity case, a woman with blood type B has a child with type O, and she claimed that it had been
fathered by a man with type A. What can be proved from these facts?

19. Multiple alleles control the intensity of pigment in mice. The gene D1 designates full color, D2 designates dilute color
and D3 is deadly when homozygous. The order of dominance is D1 > D2 > D3. When a full color male is mated to a dilute
color female, the offspring are produced in the following ratio: two full color to one dilute to one dead. Indicate the
genotypes of the parents.

20. Multiple alleles control the coat color of rabbits. A gray color is produced by the dominant allele C. The C ch allele
produces a silver-gray color when present in the homozygous condition, CchCch, called chinchilla. When Cch is present with
a recessive gene, a light silver-gray color is produced. The allele Ch is recessive to both the full color allele and the
chinchilla allele. The Ch allele produces a white color with black extremities. This coloration pattern is called Himalayan.
An allele Ca is recessive to all the other alleles. The Ca allele results in a lack of pigment, called albino. The dominance
hierarchy is C > Cch > Ch > Ca. The table below provides the possible genotypes and phenotypes for coat color in rabbits.
Notice that four genotypes are possible for full color but only one for albino.

Phenotypes Genotypes
Full color CC, CCch, CCh, CCa
Chinchilla CchCch
Light gray CchCh, CchCa
Himalaya ChCh, ChCa
Albino CaCa

a) Indicate the genotypes and phenotypes of the F1 generation from the mating of a heterozygous Himalayan coat rabbit
with an albino coat rabbit.
b) The mating of a full color rabbit with a light gray rabbit produces two full color offspring, one light gray offspring, and
one albino offspring. Indicate the genotypes of the parents.
c) A chinchilla color rabbit is mated with a light gray rabbit. The breeder knows that the light grey rabbit had an albino
mother. Indicate the genotypes and phenotypes of the F1 generation from this mating.
d) A test cross is performed with light gray rabbit, and the following offspring are noted: five Himalayan color rabbits and
five light gray rabbits. Indicate the genotype of the light-gray rabbit.

21. A geneticist notes that crossing a round shaped radish with a long shaped radish produces oval shape radishes. If oval
radishes are crossed with oval radishes, the following phenotypes are noted in the F1 generation: 100 long, 200 oval, and
100 round radishes. Use symbols explain the results obtained for the F1 and F2 generations.

22. Palomino horses are known to be caused by the interaction of two different genes. The allele Cr in the homozygous
condition produces a chestnut, or reddish color, horse. The allele Cm produces a very pale cream color, called cremello, in
the homozygous condition. The palomino color is caused by the interaction of both the chestnut and cremello alleles.
Indicate the expected ratios in the F1 generation from mating a palomino with a cremello.

23 In mice, the gene C causes pigment to be produced, while the recessive gene c makes it impossible to produce pigment.
Individuals without pigment are albino. Another gene, B, located on a different chromosome, causes a chemical reaction
with the pigment and produces a black coat color. The recessive gene, b, causes an incomplete breakdown of the pigment,
and a tan, or light-brown, color is produced. The genes that produce black or tan coat color rely on the gene C, which
produces pigment, but are independent of it. Indicate the phenotypes of the parents and provide the genotypic and
phenotypic ratios of the F1 generation from the following crosses:
a) CCBB x Ccbb (b) ccBB x CcBb (c) CcBb x ccbb (d) CcBb x CcBb

24. The mating of a tan mouse and a black mouse produces many different offspring. The geneticist notices that one of the
offspring is albino. Indicate the genotype of the tan parent. How would you determine the genotype of the black parent?

25. The gene R produces a rose comb in chickens. An independent gene, P, which is located on a different chromosome,
produces a pea comb. The absence of the dominant rose comb gene and pea comb allele (rrpp) produces birds with single
combs. However, when the rose and pea comb alleles are present together, they interact to produce a walnut comb (R_P_).
Indicate the phenotypes of the parents and give the genotypic and phenotypic ratios of the F 1 generation from the following
crosses:
a) rrPP x RRpp (b) RrPp x RRPP (c) RrPP x rrPP (d) RrPp x RrPp

26. For shorthorn cattle, the mating of a red bull and a white cow produces a calf that is described as roan. Roan results
from intermingled red and white hair. Many matings between roan bulls and roan cows produce cattle in the following
ratio: 1 red, 2 roan, 1 white. Is this a problem of codominance or multiple alleles? Explain your answer.

27. For ABO blood groups, the A and B genes are codominant but both A and B are dominant over type O. Indicate the
blood types possible from the mating of a male who is blood type O with a female of blood type AB. Could a female with
blood type AB ever produce a child with blood type AB? Could she ever have a child with blood type O?

28. For mice, the allele C produces color. The allele c is an albino. Another allele, B, causes the activation of the pigment
and produces black color. The recessive allele, b, causes the incomplete activation of pigment and produces brown color.
The alleles C and B are located on separate chromosomes and segregate independently. Determine the F1 generation
phenotypes from the cross CcBb x CcBb.

29. The genotype of F1 individuals in a tetrahybrid cross is AaBbDdEe. Assuming independent assortment of these four
genes, what are the probabilities that F2 offspring would have the following genotypes?
a. aabbddee
b. AaBbDdEe
c. AaBbddee
d. AABbddEE

30. Pooh had a colony of tiggers whose stripes went across the body. His American pen-pal, Yogi, sent him a tigger whose
stripes ran lengthwise. When Pooh crossed it with one of his own animals, he obtained plaid tiggers. Interbreeding among
the plaid tiggers produced litters with a majority of plaid members, but some crosswise- and lengthwise-striped animals
were also produced. Diagram the crosses that Pooh made, showing the genotypes of the tiggers which account for the coat
patterns observed.

31. What are the possible blood types of the children in the following families?
a. Type A mother, Type O father
b. Type B mother, Type B father
c. Type A mother, Type AB father
d. Type O mother, Type O father
e. Type B mother, Type A father

32. Polydactyly (extra fingers and toes) is due to a dominant gene. A father is polydactyl, the mother has the normal
phenotype, and they have had one normal child. What is the probability that a second child will have the normal number of
digits?
33. The Smith family has 4 children, all of them girls. What is the probability the next child will be a boy?

In the pedigree above,

a. is the trait being expressed characteristic of a dominant or recessive allele? Explain your reasoning.
b. If individuals 9 and 2 were to have children together, what chance do they have of having a child with the trait? Explain
your answer.

34. The pedigree above represents the family history of the Johnson family. Using the symbols F for a dominant trait and f
for a recessive trait, answer the following questions.
a. Is the trait a dominant or recessive trait?
b. What is the genotype of individual 6?
c. What is the genotype of individual 12?
d. If individual 15 and 20 were to have a child, what are the chances that child would be homozygous recessive?
e. If individual 15 and individual 17 were to have a child, what are the chances they would have a child with the trait?
 Learning Genetics Can Be Fun - Solutions

1. Two black dogs could be homozygous black (BB) or heterozygous black (Bb). Yellow must be homozygous, therefore
cannot be the same genotype as black.

2. a) P Rr x rr
b) R, r and r, r
c) F1 Rr, Rr, rr, rr 1 round:1 wrinkled
d) F2 RR, Rr, Rr, rr 3 round:1 wrinkled

3. P L_ x ll
F1 327 tall: 321 short - almost 1:1 therefore unknown parent must be heterozygous. Note: homozygous (LL) would give
ALL tall plants in F1.

4. The presence of all smooth in the offspring means smooth is dominant.

P SS x ss
F1 Ss
F2 3:1

5. P WW x ww
F1 Ww all white
F2 WW, Ww, Ww, ww 3 white:1 yellow
c) P Ww x WW
F1 Ww, WW all white

6. a) P Ss x Ss
F1 SS, Ss, Ss, ss
b) P S_ x _ _
The female must be heterozygous as she produced non-spotted pups. The unknown male must be homozygous recessive
(ss). If he were homozygous dominant, all pups would be spotted. If he were heterozygous, you would expect a 3:1 ratio in
pups.

7. (i) P T_ x tt
F1 tt
(ii) P T_ x tt
F1 Tt
(iii) P T_ x Tt
F1 tt
The male must be heterozygous (Tt) to be able to produce both trotters and pacers. If he were homozygous dominant her
would produce only trotters.

8. P Bb x Bb
F1 BB, Bb, Bb, bb
a) 1/4
b) 1/4
c) 1/2
d) 1 homozygous brown:2 heterozygous brown:1 homozygous blonde
e) 3 brown:1 blonde
f) not possible because blonde (b) is recessive
g) C = curly; c = straight
h) P Cc x cc
F1 Cc, Cc, cc, cc
i) C, c
j) c, c
k) 0
l) 1/2
m) 1/2
n) 1 heterozygous:1 homozygous recessive
o) 1 curly:1 straight
p) No. Straight hair is recessive so individual MUST be homozygous (cc).

9. P TmTn x TmTn
F1 TmTm, 2TmTn, TnTn (1 severe : 2 mild : 1 normal)

10. The trick here is that the parents produce all yellow or all green seeds. That means they muts be homozygous, otherwise
they would produce a mixture.
P TTYY x ttyy
F1 TtYy
F2 9:3:3:1

11. B - black; b - white; S - short; s - long

a) P BBSs x bbss
F1 BbSs, Bbss 1 black, short:1 black, long
b) P BbSs x bbss
F1 BbSs, Bbss, bbSs, bbss 1 black, short:1 black, long: 1 white, short:1 white, long
c) P BBss x BbSs
F1 BBSs, BBss, BbSs, Bbss 1 black, short:1 black, long
d) i) (a) 1/2 (b) 1/4 (c) 1/2
ii) (a) 1/2 (b) 1/4 (c) 1/2
iii) (a) 0 (b) 1/4 (c) 0

12. B - black; b - white

S - short; s - long
P bbSS x BBss
F1 BbSs
F2 1 BBSS, 2 BBSs, 2 BbSS, 2 Bbss, 4 BbSs, BBss, bbSS, 2 bbSs, bbss (typical heterozygous dihybrid cross phenotypic
ratio of 9:3:3:1 )

13. B - black; b - white; S - solid; s- spotted

male female
a) P B_S_ bbS_
F1 2 BbS_ , 2 bbS_
Some white pups so the male must be Bb. The absence of any non-spotted pups suggests that female A is SS but we can't
say for sure.
b) P BbSs B_S_
F1 bbss
the presence of white, non-spotted pups means that female B must be BbSs
c) P BbSs bbss
F1 bbSs , bbss , BbSs , Bbss
The genotype of female C can be determined from her phenotype.

14. P TTBb x Ttbb

F1 TTBb, TtBb, TTbb, Ttbb
a) 1 tall, brown:1 tall, blonde
b) 1/4
c) 1/4

15. P C_aa x ccA_

F1 ccaa this means the parents must both be heterozygous (Ccaa and ccAa)

16. P Pp x Pp
a) P(P_) x P(P_) x P(P_) = 3/4 x 3/4 x 3/4 = 27/64
b) 1 - 27/64 = 37/64
c) P(all disease) = P(pp) x P(pp) x P(pp) = 1/4 x 1/4 x 1/4 = 1/64
d) 1 - 1/64 = 63/64
17. R - rose; r - single
F - feather; f - clean
PAx C
F1 all feather, mostly rose (F_R_ and F_rr)
PAx D
F1 feathered and clean but all rose (F_R_ and ffR_)
PBxC
F1 feathered and clean, most rose but some single (F_R_, F_rr,ffR_, ffrr )
A FfRr
B FfRr
C FfRr
D FfRR (?)

18. P B_ x A_
F1 ii the man could be father but this is not proof

19. P D1D3 x D2D3

F1 2D1_, 1 D2D3, 1 D3D3 the presence of two recessive alleles in one offspring means each parent must have donated one

20. a) P ChCa x CaCa

F1 ChCa, CaCa 1 himalayan:1 albino
b) P CCa x CchCa
F1 2 C_, Cch_, CaCa
c) P CchCch x CchCa
F1 CchCch, CchCa 1 chinchilla:1 light gray
d) P CchCh x CaCa test cross
F1 5 ChCa, 5 CchCa

21. SR - round; SL - long

P SRSL x SRSL
F1 SRSR, SRSL, SRSL, SLSL (incomplete dominance)

22. CRCR - chestnut; CMCM - cremello; CMCR - palomino

P CMCR x CMCM
F1 CMCM, CRCM 1 cremello:1 palomino

23. a) P CCBB (black) x Ccbb (brown)

F1 CCBb (black), CcBb (black)
b) P ccBB (albino) x CcBb (black)
F1 CcBB (black), CcBb (black), ccBB (albino), ccBb (albino)
c) P CcBb (black) x ccbb (albino)
F1 CcBb (black), Ccbb (brown), ccBb (albino), ccbb (albino)
d) P CcBb (black) x CcBb (black)
F1 CCBB (black), CCBb (black), CcBB (black), CCbb (brown), CcBb (black), Ccbb (brown), ccBB (albino), ccBb (albino),
ccbb (albino)
note: you would get the normal 9:3:3:1 as in any heterozygous dihybrid cross but ccBB, ccBb, and ccbb all combine to give
4 albino (a bit tricky, eh?)

24. P Ccbb x CcB_

A test cross would be necessary to determine the genotype of the black parent. Cross it with a CCbb mouse. If any tan
offspring are present in F1, the black mouse is heterozygous. If all black, the black mouse is homozygous.

25. a) P rrPP (pea) x RRpp (rose)

F1 RrPp (walnut)
b) P RrPp (walnut) x RRPP (walnut)
F1 RRPP (walnut), RRPp (walnut), RrPP (walnut), RrPp (walnut)
c) P RrPP (walnut) x rrPP (pea)
F1 RrPP (walnut), rrPP (pea)
d) P RrPp (walnut) x RrPp (walnut)
F1 RRPP (walnut), 2RRPp (walnut), RRpp (rose), 2RrPP (walnut), 4RrPp (walnut), 2 Rrpp (rose), rrPP (pea), 2 rrPp (pea),
rrpp (single)
26. Codominance gives a typical 1:2:1 ratio. Multiple alleles would give ratios other than 1:2:1 because of any dominance
hierarchy.

27. P ii x IAIB
F1 IAi, IBi
AB could produce AB offspring if were type A, B, or AB; she could never produce type O in F1 because she always donates
either A or B.

28. C - color; c - albino

B - black; b - brown
P CcBb x CcBb
F1 CCBB, CCBb, CcBB, CcBb, CCbb, Ccbb, ccBB, ccBb, ccbb
- the expected ratio of 9:3:3:1 becomes 9:3:4 due to epistasis.

29. HB - baldness - dominant in males; recessive in females

Hn - normal - dominant in females, recessive in males
P HnHn x HBHn
F1 HnHB
- a bald girl is impossible because the father cannot donate HB

30. a) 4 (DUH ! Gee, challenging)

b) D - normal; d - recessive
P Dd x Dd
c) P (F) dd x (G) dd
F1 (M) dd, (N) dd