Assignment 1 Answer Key

1.
a. 1/4 b. 1/2 c. 1/16 d. 1/4 e. 1/4 f. 9/16 g. 1 (100%) h. 1/4

2.
Ans: a. 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 = 1/16.
b. Also 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 = 1/16.

3.
Ans. 1/4 x 1/4 x 1/4 x 1/2 = 1/64

4.
Ans: a. 1/2.
b. The probability of having three normal children and two that are affected is
[5! / 3! 2!] (0.75)3 (0.25)2 = 0.26.

5.
.Ans:
63 + 17 = 80 total
The 2 = (63- 60)2/60 + (17 - 20)2/20 = 0.60 with 1 df, which yields a P value between 0.5 and
0.1, so the data do fit satisfactorily according to this criterion.

6.
Ans: The 2 = (16.5 - 11)2/16.5 + (22 - 16.5)2/16.5 = 3.67 with 1 df, which yields a P value of
about 0.06, so the data do fit satisfactorily according to this criterion. (The P value is very
close to the borderline, however)

7.
Ans:
a. 1 tailless : 1 tailed.
b. 6/16 = 3/8; b. the probability of two of each type is 1/16 for any particular birth order, but
there are 6 possible birth orders (the short-tailed pups could be the first two, the middle two,
the last two, the first and the last, and so forth).

8.
Ans: The 2 = (81 - 79)2/81 + (29 - 27)2/27 + (27 - 21)2/27 + (9 - 15)2/9 = 5.53 with 3 df, for
which the P value is about 0.15. There is no reason, from these data, to reject the genetic
hypothesis.
X2 = (0.04938+0.148+1.33+4)

9.
Ans: 2 = (84 - 83.5)2/83.5 + (172 - 167)2/167 + (78 - 83.5)2/83.5 = 0.515 with df = 2, which yields P
value of about 0.81, so the data do fit satisfactory according to this criterion.
10.
Answer: (a) Both parents must be heterozygous (a carrier) in order to have an albino
offspring.
(b) With parents of genotype Aa Aa, the nonalbino offspring genotypes possible are AA,
Aa, and aA. Two of these three are carriers, so there is a 2/3 (66 percent) chance that a
nonalbino child is a carrier.

11.
Answer: One-quarter of the offspring should be homozygous recessive, thus: (0.25) 1,500
= 375 white flowers.

12.
Answer: In a dihybrid cross, 1/16 of the offspring are expected to be homozygous recessive.
Thus, 1/16 200 = 12.5 offspring.

13.
a. Using P for the leaf color locus and S for the stem type locus: PpSs ppSs.
b. A possible hypothesis is that each trait is controlled by independently assorting single
gene pairs, and that one allele in each pair exhibits complete dominance over the other.
Class 1 = 3/8, class 2 = 3/8, class 3 = 1/8, class 4 = 1/8.
c. (68 68)2/68 + (66 68)2/68 + (22 23)2/23 + (25 23)2/23 = 0.276. This number (the
chi-square statistic) is very small; therefore you confidently accept your hypothesis.

14.
a. Figure out the likelihood of a dominant phenotype for each of the four independent
monohybrid cross components (e.g., aa Aa = 1/2 Aa, 1/2 aa, etc.). Therefore, A_ = 1/2;
B_ = 3/4; C_ = 1/2; D_ = 1.
b. Simplify this quadric hybrid cross by breaking it down into four independent
monohybrid cross components (e.g., aa Aa = 1/2 Aa, 1/2 aa, etc.). This strategy can be
used for any multihybrid cross involving genes that assort independently. Thus, for
aaBBccDd: (1/2)(1/4)(1/2)(1/2) = 1/32. 1/32 (125) = 3.9 = 3 or 4 offspring
c. For AaBbCcDd: (1/2)(1/2)(1/2)(1/2) = 1/16. 1/16 (125) = 7 or 8 offspring

15.
(1) Cross 1 results in a 3:1 ratio of red-winged to clear-winged progeny, therefore the
parents are most likely both Rr. Crosses 2 and 3 result in only red-winged progeny,
therefore the parents are most likely all RR .
(2) Crosses 1 and 3 have a sufficient number of progeny, but the low number of progeny
from cross 2 precludes making any conclusions.