Examples of genetic crosses
More possible examples of single gene combinations:
Aa x AA where Aa = female alleles and AA = male alleles
A | a | |
A | AA | Aa |
A | AA | Aa |
A | |
---|---|
A | AA |
a | Aa |
A | |
---|---|
A | AA |
a | Aa |
Half of the possible offspring have the same allele combination; AA homozygous dominant and the other half have the Aa heterozygous combination.
probabilityThe extent to which something is likely to be the case. calculations are: two out of four possible combinations create 50% chance for AA, and 50% chance for Aa alleles.
There is a ratio of 1:1
Ee x Ee where Ee = female alleles and Ee = male alleles
E | e | |
E | EE | Ee |
e | Ee | ee |
E | |
---|---|
E | EE |
e | Ee |
e | |
---|---|
E | Ee |
e | ee |
There are three different offspring combinations. One is EE (homozygous dominant), two are Ee (heterozygous) and one is ee (homozygous recessive).
Probability calculations are: one out of four possible combinations create 25% chance for EE, two offspring create a 50% chance for the Ee alleles, and finally 25% chance for the ee alleles.
This can be shown simply as:
EE - 25%
Ee - 50%
ee - 25%
The probability values must add up to 100% (25 + 50 + 25 = 100)
The ratio can be summarised as 1: 2 : 1.
Allele | Percentage | Ratio |
EE | 25 | 1 |
Ee | 50 | 2 |
ee | 25 | 1 |
Allele | EE |
---|---|
Percentage | 25 |
Ratio | 1 |
Allele | Ee |
---|---|
Percentage | 50 |
Ratio | 2 |
Allele | ee |
---|---|
Percentage | 25 |
Ratio | 1 |
Using the worked example to help you, work through the additional examples below.
Step 1:
Female: Aa Male: Aa
Step 2: Aa x Aa
Step 3:
A | a | |
A | ||
a |
A | |
---|---|
A | |
a |
a | |
---|---|
A | |
a |
Step 4: Female: A and a
Male: A and a
Step 5:
A | a | |
A | ||
a |
A | |
---|---|
A | |
a |
a | |
---|---|
A | |
a |
Step 6:
A | a | |
A | AA | Aa |
a | Aa | Aa |
A | |
---|---|
A | AA |
a | Aa |
a | |
---|---|
A | Aa |
a | Aa |
Allele letter choice select a letter that has a clearly different lower case, for example: Aa, Bb, Dd.
Method:
- Draw your Punnett square
- Add the alleles into your Punnett square around the edges
- Work out the new possible genetic combinations inside the Punnett square
Question
Coat type in dogs is determined by a single gene with two alleles.
The straight coat allele is dominant (D) and the curly coat allele is recessive (d).
Two dogs with the alleles Dd breed.
Complete this Punnett square to show the allele combinations of the possible offspring produced.
D | d | |
D | ||
d |
D | |
---|---|
D | |
d |
d | |
---|---|
D | |
d |
D | d | |
D | DD | Dd |
d | Dd | dd |
D | |
---|---|
D | DD |
d | Dd |
d | |
---|---|
D | Dd |
d | dd |
Question
Calculate the probability that an offspring will have the combination DD.
25%.
Question
Determine the ratio of straight hair offspring to curly hair offspring.
3 straight : 1 curly