Definitions:
• Sex-linked
Ch. 15 Warm-Up
gene 1. A white-eyed female fruit-fly is mated with a red-
• Barr body eyed male. What genotypes and phenotypes do you
• SRY gene predict for the offspring?
• Linked
genes 1. Neither Tim nor Rhoda has Duchenne muscular
• Linkage dystrophy (X-linked recessive disorder), but their
map firstborn son has it. What is the probability their 2nd
child will have it?
1. Colorblindness is a sex-linked recessive trait. A
colorblind male and a female with normal vision
have a son who is colorblind. What are the parents’
genotypes?
Warm up
1. What is a Barr body?
2. How are linkage maps constructed? (See. Fig. 15.11
in Campbell 9th ed.)
3. Determine the sequence of genes along a
chromosome based on the following recombination
frequencies: A-B, 8 map units; A-C, 19 map units; A-
D, 20 map units; B-C, 11 map units; B-D, 28 map
units.
4. What does a frequency of recombination of 50%
indicate?
Warm-Up
1. What is the pattern of inheritance of the trait (shaded
square/circle) shown in the pedigree?
1. How many chromosomes are in a human cell that is:
a) Diploid? b) Triploid?
c) Monosomic? d) Trisomic?
THE CHROMOSOMAL BASIS OF
INHERITANCE
CHAPTER 15
What you must know:
• How the chromosome theory of inheritance
connects the physical movement of chromosomes
in meiosis to Mendel’s laws of inheritance.
• The unique pattern of inheritance in sex-linked
genes.
• How alteration of chromosome number or
structurally altered chromosomes (deletions,
duplications, etc.) can cause genetic disorders.
• How genetic imprinting and inheritance of
mitochondrial DNA are exceptions to standard
Mendelian inheritance.
Chromosome theory of inheritance:
• Genes have specific
locations (loci) on
chromosomes
• Chromosomes
segregate and assort
independently
Chromosomes tagged to reveal a specific gene (yellow).
Thomas Hunt Morgan
• Drosophila melanogaster – fruit fly
– Fast breeding, 4 prs. chromosomes (XX/XY)
• Sex-linked gene: located on X or Y
chromosome
– Red-eyes = wild-type; white-eyes = mutant
– Specific gene carried on specific chromosome
Sex determination
varies between
animals
Sex-linked genes
• Sex-linked gene on X or Y
• Females (XX), male (XY)
– Eggs = X, sperm = X or Y
• Fathers pass X-linked genes to daughters, but not
sons
• Males express recessive trait on the single X
(hemizygous)
• Females can be affected or carrier
Transmission of sex-linked recessive traits
Sex-linked disorders
• Colorblindness
• Duchenne muscular dystrophy
• Hemophilia
X-Inactivation
Barr body = inactive X chromosome; regulate gene dosage
in females during embryonic development
• Cats: allele for fur
color is on X
• Only female cats can
be tortoiseshell or
calico.
Human development
• Y chromosome required for development of testes
• Embryo gonads indifferent at 2 months
• SRY gene: sex-determining region of Y
• Codes for protein that regulates other genes
Genetic Recombination: production of offspring
with new combo of genes from parents
• If offspring look like parents parental types
• If different from parents recombinants
• If results do not follow Mendel’s Law of Independent
Assortment, then the genes are probably linked
Linked genes: located on same chromosome and
tend to be inherited together during cell division
Crossing over: explains why some linked genes
get separated during meiosis
• the further apart 2 genes on same chromosome,
the higher the probability of crossing over and
the higher the recombination frequency
Calculating recombination frequency
Linkage Map: genetic map that is based on
% of cross-over events
• 1 map unit = 1% recombination frequency
• Express relative distances along chromosome
• 50% recombination = far apart on same chromosome
or on 2 different chromosomes
Exceptions to Mendelian
Inheritance
Genomic Imprinting
• Genomic imprinting: phenotypic effect of gene
depends on whether from M or F parent
• Methylation: silence genes by adding methyl groups
to DNA
Non-Nuclear DNA
• Some genes located in
organelles
– Mitochondria, chloroplasts,
plastids
– Contain small circular DNA
• Mitochondria = maternal
inheritance (eggs)
Variegated (striped or spotted) leaves result from mutations in
pigment genes in plastids, which generally are inherited from
the maternal parent.
Genetic Testing
Reasons for Genetic Tests:
•Diagnostic testing (genetic disorders)
•Presymptomatic & predictive testing
•Carrier testing (before having children)
•Pharmacogenetics (medication & dosage)
•Prenatal testing
•Newborn screening
•Preimplantation testing (embryos)
Prenatal Testing
• May be used on a fetus to detect genetic
disorders
• Amniocentesis: remove amniotic fluid
around fetus to culture for karyotype
• Chorionic villus sampling: insert narrow tube
in cervix to extract sample of placenta with
fetal cells for karyotype
Nondisjunction:
Nondisjunction chromosomes fail to separate
properly in Meiosis I or Meiosis II
Karyotyping can detect nondisjunctions.
Down Syndrome = Trisomy 21
Nondisjunction
Klinefelter Syndrome: 47XYY, 47XXY
Nondisjunction
Turner Syndrome = 45XO
Chromosomal Mutations
Chromosomal Mutations
Nondisjunction
• Aneuploidy: incorrect # chromosomes
– Monosomy (1 copy) or Trisomy (3 copies)
• Polyploidy: 2+ complete sets of chromosomes;
3n or 4n
– Rare in animals, frequent in plants
A tetraploid mammal. Scientists think this species may have arisen when an
ancestor doubled its chromosome # by errors in mitosis or meiosis.
Review Questions
1. What is the pattern of inheritance of the trait (shaded
square/circle) shown in the pedigree?
1. How many chromosomes are in a human cell that is:
a) Diploid? b) Triploid?
c) Monosomic? d) Trisomic?
Chi-Square Analysis Practice
• Two true-breeding Drosophila are crossed: a normal-winged,
red-eyed female and a miniature-winged, vermillion-eyed
male. The F1 offspring all have normal wings and red eyes.
When the F1 offspring are crossed with miniature-winged,
vermillion-eyed flies, the following offspring resulted:
– 233 normal wing, red eye
– 247 miniature wing, vermillion eye
– 7 normal wing, vermillion eye
– 13 miniature wing, red eye
• What type of conclusions can you draw from this experiment?
Explain your answer.
