BIOLOGY 2/2A

MENDELIAN GENETICS PROBLEM SET

PURPOSE:
inheritance.

To visualize and practice the Mendelian and Non-Mendelian principles of

PROCEDURE: Complete all problems on separate paper. DO NOT ANSWER THEM

ON THIS PAGE. Show your work, defining the alleles, showing the parental
genotypes, completing the Punnett squares and including ratios where appropriate!

PART ONE: MONOHYBRID CROSSES/COMPLETE DOMINANCE

NOTE: Assume complete dominance.
1. In fruit flies, normal wings (V) is dominant over vestigial wings (v). The flies
produced in one mating (i.e. the F1 generation) included 734 normal winged flies and 598
vestigial winged flies.
What are the genotypes and phenotypes of the parent flies?
2. In cats, short hair (S) is dominant over Angora (long) hair (s). An Angora male is
mated with a shorthaired female. She produces a litter of eight kittens, six of which are
short-haired and two of which are Angora. What was the expected phenotypic ratio for
this mating? If these same two parent cats, when mated, produced a total of fifty (50)
kittens in successive litters, how would the expected be different?
3. Albinism is a recessive skin condition caused by a lack of skin pigments. An albino
man marries a woman with normal skin pigmentation. However, this normal woman had
an albino mother. Using a Punnett square, show the different phenotypes possible for
their children and the relative proportions of each (i.e .a phenotypic ratio).
4. In cattle, hornless (H) is completely dominant over the horned condition (h). A
hornless bull is bred with three different cows. When mated with cow A, a horned cow, a
hornless calf is produced. When mated with cow B, another horned cow, a horned calf is
produced. With cow C, a hornless cow, a horned calf is also produced. What are the
genotypes of the bull and the three cows?

5. In peas, axial flowers (A) are dominant over terminal flowers (a). What are the
expected phenotypic ratios for the following crosses ? (list all three ratios)
- homozygous axial x terminal
- heterozygous axial x

terminal

- heterozygous axial x heterozygous axial

6. Twenty five percent (25%) of the F1 generation produced by mating two white sheep
were black. What are the genotypes of the parent sheep?
7. Rough coated guinea pigs, when crossed with smooth-coated guinea pigs, produce
only rough-coated offspring in the F1 generation. What phenotypes would be expected
from the following crosses?
- Crossing two F1 offspring
- Back crossing an F1 individual with a homozygous recessive parent.
8. A blue-eyed man, both of whose parents were brown-eyed, marries a brown-eyed
woman whose father was brown-eyed and whose mother was blue-eyed. They have only
one child, who is blue-eyed. List the genotypes for all of the individuals listed above.
9. In Holstein cattle, black or white solid coats (S) are dominant over spotted (s) coats.
Give the genotypes of the parent cattle and complete a Punnett square for each of the
following crosses:
- Spotted coat x

Spotted coat

- Heterozygous solid coat

Spotted coat

- Heterozygous solid coat

Heterozygous solid coat

10. In goats, black coat color (B) is dominant over white coat color (b) . A black-coated
goat is mated with a white-coated goat. Over the course of time, a large number of
offspring are produced and all of the offspring are black. What is the most likely
genotype for the black-coated goat?
11. Suppose the goats from question #10 were mated but only half of the offspring were
black. What the most likely genotype for the black-coated goat?
12. In rats, a rough coat (R) is dominant over smooth coats (r). If a homozygous roughcoated rat is crossed with a smooth-coated rat, what phenotypes may be present in the
F1 generation? What phenotypes may be present in the F2 generation?

13. Using the same alleles from question #12, suppose a rough-coated rat bred with a
smooth-coated rat produced an F1 generation containing eight rough and seven smoothcoated offspring. Based on this information, what are the genotypes of the parents and
the F1 offspring?
14. Using the same alleles from question #12, suppose a rough-coated rat was crossed
with a smoothcoated rat. All of the F1 offspring were rough-coated. When rats from the
F1 generation were crossed among themselves, the resulting F2 generation conatined 30
rough and 10 smooth rats.
Based on this information, answer the following questions:
-How many of the rough-coated rats in the F1 would be homozygous dominant?
-How many of the rough-coated rats in the F1 generation would be heterozygous?
-How many of the smooth-coated rats in the F2 would be homozygous recessive?
-How many of the smooth-coated rats in the F2 generation would be heterozygous?
15. A normally pigmented man whose father was an albino marries an albino woman,
both of whose parents were normally pigmented. Of the resulting three children, two are
normal and one is albino.
List the genotypes of all eight individuals listed above.
16. In sheep, white coloration is due to a dominant factor (W) and black coloration is due
to the recessive allele (w). A white ewe mated to a white ram produces a black lamb. If
they were mated again, what is the probability that the lamb would be white? List the
genotypes of all in this problem tnd provide a Punnett square to support your answer.

PART TWO: INCOMPLETE DOMINANCE

17. In shorthorn cattle, the heterozygous condition of one red allele (R) and one white
allele (r) is roan. If two roan shorthorn cattle are mated, what chance will their offspring
have of resembling their parents in coat color?
18. A breeder of shorthorn cattle has cows which are white, and a bull which is roan.
What of the calves produced in his herd will be...
-White?
-Roan?
-Red?

19. Of the calves produced in question #18, which coat color(s) would represent
homozygous individuals?
20. All of the offspring produced by crossing red tulips with white tulips are pink.
Based upon information, what proportions of flower colors will be produced in each of
the following crosses?
-Pink x Pink
-Pink x White
-Red x White
-Pink x Red
21. After several matings of tan-colored birds, the following offspring resulted: 23
white, 26 brown and 53 tan birds. Show a Punnett square that would produce all tan
offspring. Label the parents.
22. Red coat color (R) in shorthorn cattle is incompletely dominant over white coat color
(r), producing thehybrid phenotype, roan (Rr). How could a farmer who has a roan bull
and some white cows obtain a pure-bred (i.e. homozygous) red herd using only his
present herd?
23. In Andalusian fowl, black feathers (B) are incompletely dominant to white (b)
feathers. However, the heterozygous genotype (Bb) produces a blue feather color. What
offspring phenotypes may be produced in the F1 generations from the following
crosses? Show your Punnett squares for each cross.
-Blue x

Black

-Blue x

Blue

-Blue x White
24. In cats, yellow coat color is due to a sex-linked gene (Y) and black color is due to
its allele (y). The heterozygous genotype (Yy) produces a color known as tortoise shell.
What phenotypes may be present in the F1 generation produced by crossing a black
male with a tortoise shell female?

PART THREE: DIHYBRID CROSSES WITH COMPLETE DOMINANCE

NOTE: Assume complete dominance for all alleles in these crosses.
25. In horses, the allele for black coats (B) is dominant to its allele for chestnut coats
(b) in addition, the allele for a trotting gait (T) is dominant to its allele for a pacing gait
(t). What phenotypes may be present in the F1 generation resulting from the cross of a
homozygous black pacer with a homozygous chestnut trotter? Include a Punnett
square with your answer.
26. Using two individuals from the F1 generation in question #25, what phenotypes
would be present in the F2 generation resulting from the cross of these individuals?
Include a Punnett square with your answer.
27. If one of the F1 offspring from question #25 were crossed with a homozygous black
pacer, what phenotypes would be present in the resulting F2 generation? Include a
Punnett square with your answer.
28. In fruit flies, the allele for grey body color (G) is dominant over the allele for black
body color (g). In addition, long wings (L) are dominant over short (l) wings. A cross is
made between ahomozygous gray, short-winged male and a homozygous black, longwinged individual. A male and female from the resulting F1 generation cross are mated.
What different phenotypes would be expected in the resulting F2 generation? Include
a phenotypic ratio with your answer.
29. In garden peas, tall vines (T) are dominant over short vines (t) while purple flowers
(P) are dominant over white flowers (p). Assume complete dominance and that the genes
for the two traits are carried on separate chromosomes (no linkage). The F1 plants of a
particular cross yielded four different phenotypes in almost equal numbers. Use this
information to answer the following:
-What are the phenotypes present in the F1 generation?
-What are the genotypes present in the F1 generation?
-What might have been the genotypes of the original parent plants?
30. In guinea pigs, pigmented (P) is dominant to albino (p) and rough coats (R) are
dominant to smooth coats (r). An albino (pure white) guinea pig with a rough coat is
mated to a black guinea pig with a smooth coat. In a particular cross, all of the resulting
offspring were black and rough. Based on theseresults and the information you have,
do these results match the expected phenotypic ratios?
Explain using a Punnett square as part of your answer.

31. In summer squash, white fruits (W) are dominant to yellow fruits (w) while flat fruits
(F) are dominant to rounded fruits (f). The selected parents are a white, flat fruit
(WWFF) and a plant with yellow and rounded fruits. What would the phenotypic and
genotypic ratios be for the following:
-The F1 generation
-The F2 generation
-The offspring of a backcross between an F1 and the recessive parent.
32. In humans, brown eye color (B) is dominant over blue (b) while right-handedness (R)
is dominant over left-handedness (r). A brown-eyed, right-handed man marries a blueeyed, right-handed woman. Their first child is blue-eyed and left-handed. List the
genotypes of the parents.
33. The ability to taste the compound phenyl-thio-carbamide, PTC, results from the
presence of a dominant allele (P). Persons with the recessive allele for this trait (p)
cannot taste PTC. Albinism is a lack of skin pigmentation and its allele (a) is recessive
to the allele for pigmentation (A). A normally pigmented woman who cannot taste PTC
has a father who is an albino "taster". This woman marries an albino taste. This man
has a mother who is a non-taster. Using the information in this problem, show the
possible genotypes and phenotypes of the children that might be produced by this
couple.
34. In corn, plump grains (P) are dominant over shriveled grains (p) while black grains
(B) are dominant over white grains (b). What phenotypic and genotypic ratios would
results from the following crosses?
-Homozygous black & plump x
Homozygous white & shriveled
-Heterozygous black & plump
-PPBb

Heterozygous black and plump

Ppbb

35. In guinea pigs, short hair (S) is dominant over long hair (s) and black hair (B) is
dominant over white hair (b). If a homozygous black, short-haired guinea pig mates with
a white, long-haired pig, what phenotypes may appear in the resulting F1 generation?
Show your Punnett square.
36. If two individuals from the F1 generation in question #35 are crossed, what
phenotypes may appear in the resulting F2 generation? Show your Punnett square.
37. Comparing your Punnett squares for questions #35-36, how are the phenotypic ratios
for each generation (i.e. F1 vs. F2) different?

PART FOUR: SEX-LINKED TRAITS

38. Color-blindness is a sex-linked character. The gene for normal eye condition (N) is
dominant over the gene for color blindness (n). In humans, the sex chromosomal
condition of XX indicates a female and XY indicates a male. What phenotype-sex
combinations may result in the offspring of a colorblind male and a female who lacks
any recessive alleles for color blindness? Show your Punnett square with your answer.
39. Using one of the female offspring from question #38, what phenotype-sex
combinations may result when this female is crossed with a normal male?
40. Two normal visioned parents produce a color-blind son. What are the genotypes of
the parents? What are the chances of their next child being a color-blind female?
41. In a certain family there are six girls. What are the chances of the next child being a
boy?
42. In humans, albinism (a) is recessive to normal pigmentation (A). Hemophelia (h) is
also recessive to normal blood clotting (H). If an albino, non-hemophiliac man and a
normally-pigmented, non-hemophiliac female whose father was a hemophiliac and whose
mother was an albino marry and have children, what kind of phenotypes can their
children have and in what proportions?
43. In fruit flies, white eyes (W) is a sex-linked gene, with red eyes (w) being the normal
condition. In one cross, the following numbers of flies of four different phenotypes were
produced: 273 red-eyed males, 258 white eyed males, 304 red eyed females, 197 white
eyed females. Based on this information, what were the genotypes and phenotypes of
the parent flies?
44. In another fruit fly crossing similar traits to the one in the previous item (but with
different parent), the following number of flies were produced: 262 white eyed males, 0
red eyed males, 0 white eyed females and 243 red eyed females. Based on this
information, what were the genotypes and phenotypes of the parent flies.?
45. Hemophilia, the "bleeder's disease", is associated with an X-linked recessive allele
(h). The daughter of a hemophiliac man is not a bleeder herself. She marries a normal
man. What is the probability that their child will be affected by hemophilia? Use a
Punnett square in your answer.
46. In fruit flies, the normal eye color is red (R) and sepia eye color (r) is recessive. All
of the progeny of a certain cross have red eyes. When one of the F1 males is mated with
one of the F1 females the following offspring result: 962 red-eyed flies and 327 sepiaeyed flies. Complete a Punnett square for the F2 generation and write the genotypes
of the F1 generation and parents.

47. Red-green color blindness is due to a recessive X-linked allele (c) and normal color
vision results from the dominant allele (C). If a woman of normal vision whose father
was color blind marries a man of normal vision whose father was also color blind, what
kinds of vision (i.e. phenotypes) will be expected in their children?
48. Using the same traits as described in the previous item, specify the expected
distribution of normal and color blind individuals among the children produced by
each of the following matings:
-A color-blind mother and a normal father
-A heterozygous normal mother and a color blind father
-A heterozygous normal mother and a normal father
49. In the fruit fly, red eyes (R) is a sex-linked trait dominant to white eyes (r). Specify
the distribution of the eyes color among the males and then among the females in each
of the following crosses.
-A white-eyed female crossed with a red-eyed male
-A heterozygous red-eyed female crossed with a white-eyed male
-A heterozygous red-eyed female with a red-eyed male
50. A color blind Sultan has two wives. With his first wife, he had eight children, one
half of which were color blind. With the second wife, he had four children, all of whom
had normal vision. Give the genotype , phenotype and sex of the following individuals:
-The first wife
-The offspring of the Sultan and his first wife
-The second wife
-The offspring of the Sultan and his second wife

PART FIVE-MULTIPLE ALLELES

51. In humans, the blood types A, B, AB and O are determined by three different alleles
IA, IB and i. What phenotypes would be anticipated in the offspring of the following
marriages? -O x A -O x B
-O x AB
-A x B -AB x B
-AB x A
52. Four babies were born in a hospital on the same night, and their blood groups were
later found to be O,A, B and AB. The four pairs of parent were: OxO, ABxO, AxB,
BxB. Assign each baby to its parents, showing your Punnett squares with your work.

53. A wealthy, elderly couple died together in an accident. Soon, a man showed up to
claim his inheritance, contending that he was their son who ran away from home when he
was a boy. Other relatives disputed this claim. Hospital records showed that the
deceased couple were types AB and O respectively. The claimant to the fortune was type
O. Is the claimant an imposter? Prove your conclusion.
54. A couple preparing for marriage is having their blood typed, along with all of the
other required blood tests. Both are type AB. They ask you what types of blood their
children may have. What would you tell them and how would you explain your
conclusion?
55. Suppose a father of group B and a mother of group O have a child of group O. What
are their chances that their next child will be phenotype...
-Group O

-Group B

-Group A

-Group AB

56. Miss Brown claims that Mr. Smith is the father of her child and sues him for the
support of the child. She has type A blood, her child has type O blood and Mr. Smith has
type B blood. Could the man be the father of this child? Does this prove whether or
not he is the father?
57. Suppose a father and mother claim that they have been given the wrong baby at a
hospital. Both parents are group A. The baby they have been given is group O. What
bearing on the case does this evidence offer, if any?
58. Suppose a child is of blood group A and the mother is of blood group O. What group
or groups may the father belong to?
59. A normal visioned man of blood group A marries a normal-visioned woman of blood
group A. They have two children, a color-blind boy of group A and a normal visioned
girl of group O. What were the genotypes of the parents?

PART SIX: POLYGENICS

60. In humans, skin color is determined by four separate pairs of genes. Depending upon
the number of dominant alleles present, the following skin colors can be produced:
4 dominant genes = black
3 dominant genes = dark
2 dominant genes = medium
1 dominant gene = light
0 dominant genes = white

If two parents, with genotypes AaBb and AaBb, are crossed, what skin color(s) will
be produced in the offspring? Use a 16 square Punnett square in your answer.
61. Deaf mutism in humans is determined by four separate pairs of genes. As long as the
offspring have one dominant D and one dominant E they will be born with normal
hearing. Two deaf-mute parents, (Ddee and ddEe) have children. With respect to this
trait, describe their children