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Genetic inheritanceExamples of genetic crosses

Our genes are inherited from our parents, and the different combinations of these genes make us unique. Genetic inheritance controls the characteristics of all living things.

Part of ScienceInheritance

Examples of genetic crosses

More possible examples of single gene combinations:

Aa x AA where Aa = female alleles and AA = male alleles

Aa
AAAAa
AAAAa
A
AAA
aAa
A
AAA
aAa

Half of the possible offspring have the same allele combination; AA homozygous dominant and the other half have the Aa heterozygous combination.

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

Ee
EEEEe
eEeee
E
EEE
eEe
e
EEe
eee

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.

AllelePercentageRatio
EE251
Ee502
ee251
AlleleEE
Percentage25
Ratio1
AlleleEe
Percentage50
Ratio2
Alleleee
Percentage25
Ratio1

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:

Aa
A
a
A
A
a
a
A
a

Step 4: Female: A and a

Male: A and a

Step 5:

Aa
A
a
A
A
a
a
A
a

Step 6:

Aa
AAAAa
aAaAa
A
AAA
aAa
a
AAa
aAa

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.

Dd
D
d
D
D
d
d
D
d

Question

Calculate the probability that an offspring will have the combination DD.

Question

Determine the ratio of straight hair offspring to curly hair offspring.