Practice Questions I Review

Chapter 1

1. What are three reasons genetics is important to all of us?

1- Individual: to our health, unique traits, happiness/suffering
2- Society: population, food, nutrition, medicine, stability
3- Biology: understand life, improve life, evolution

2. What is a gene?
A gene is the unit of heredity, or a unit of information that encodes a genetic characteristic.
Genes that determine a trait are the genotype, and the trait that they produce is the phenotype.
Genes are located on chromosomes.

3. Explain the major contributions that the following individuals made to the study of genetics:
a. Gregor Mendel – published studies using pea plants: crossed them and discovered the
principles of heredity – the cell’s nucleus is the site of heredity. Founder of
modern/classical/mendelian genetics
b. Sutton and Boveri – showed that heredity (the gene) is located on chromosomes
c. Watson and Crick – published paper about 3D DNA structure
d. Thomas Morgan – established fruit flies as a model for transmission genetics because he
discovered a mutant fly

4. What are the model genetic systems?

1- Escherichia coli: Bacterium that lives in the gut of humans/animals
2- Saccharomyces cerevisiae: (Baker’s Yeast, Budding Yeast) single cell fungus – eukaryote
3- Arabidopsis thaliana: Thale-crest plant, used for plant molecular genetics
4- Caenorhabditis elegans: Nematode, commonly found in soil, to study development and cell
differentiation
5- Mus musculus: House mouse, used for testing mammals
6- Drosophila melanogaster: Fruit fly, many important human genes were first identified by
their counterparts from this fly, > 100 yr studied
7- Apis mellifera: Honeybee, studied for its behavioral styles, communication, neurology,
ecology, and evolution
8- Danio rerio: Zebrafish, for studying development, has a mutant (golden) fish that is related
to skin pigmentation of humans

5. Describe the flow of genetic information (central dogma).

Genetic information is replicated and then transcribed from DNA into messenger RNA. Then
RNA is translated into proteins. Reverse transcription can occur.
Chapter 2
6. What is a chromosome?
Consists of dsDNA and associated proteins. Mostly they’re invisible until cell division. The
place on the chromosome where the gene resides is the locus. They have a centromere,
telomere, and origin of replication. The centromere is the attachment site for spindle fibers and
kinetochore. One centromere per chromosome. The telomere are structures on the ends that
keeps the chromosome stable. The # of telomeres/chromosome depends on the amount of
chromatids. The OoR is the site where DNA synthesis begins. Prokaryotes usually have a
single, circular chromosome. Eukaryotes usually have multiple, linear chromosomes with
histones, chromatin.
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7. Which of the following is a diploid structure or haploid structure?
a. Microspore - haploid
b. megaspore - haploid
c. egg - haploid
d. microsporocyte - diploid
e. spermatogonium - diploid
f. spermatid - haploid
g. oogonium - diploid
h. ovum - haploid

8. An oogonium has 8 chromosomes. After the completion of Meiosis I, how many chromosomes
will the secondary oocyte contain?
b. 4

9. Two species of the same genus have a different number of chromosomes. Species A has 8
chromosomes, while species B has 22. In which species will one see more genetic variation
among the progeny? Human cells have 46 chromosomes, how many different chromosome
combinations in the gametes are possible?

The more genetic variation will come from Species B because the 2^n rule, where n= the # of
PAIRS of chromosomes. Species A = 16: Species B = 2,048. The organism with the larger
number of chromosome pairs will have the more variation. Humans can have 8,324,608
possible combinations.

10. For an individual, the gene responsible for eye development can be found in the cells of this
individual’s feet. True or False Why?

True because all cells have the same DNA.

11. For an individual, his skin cells have the same mitochondrial DNA as in his liver cells.

True or False Why?

False because when mitochondrial DNA divides it is never divides exactly into the same thing.

12. What process is shown in the figure? The diploid chromosome number in this organism is four.
The letters stand for different alleles of genes.
Anaphase – (4n) when the sister
Chromatids separate & move towards
Opposite ends of the cell
CENTROMERE SPLITTING
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Chapter 3

13. How to use the multiplication rule and the addition rule?
Use the multiplication rule with key words like “And” to determine the probability of two or
more important events by multiplying the probabilities of each. And the addition rule with
keywords like “Either, Or” to determine probability of mutually exclusive events by adding the
probabilities.

14. What type of cross could you carry out to determine if a trait is recessive or dominant?
Monohybrid cross and backcross
What type of cross could you carry out to determine unknown genotypes?
Test cross

15. The probability that a fruit will have an oval shape is 1/4. The probability that a fruit will have a
round shape is 1/2. What is the probability that the fruit will have either an oval or a round
shape? *Addition Rule*
¼ + ½ = ¾ probability of having either oval or round shape

16. What is the phenotypic ratio of the F2 generation in a dihybrid cross?

3:1 phenotypic ratio

17. In Labrador retrievers, black (B) coat color is dominant to brown(b). Suppose that a black Lab
is mated with a brown one and the offspring are 4 black puppies and 1 brown. What is the
genotype of the black parent?
The black parent must be heterozygous Bb

18. Two gene loci, A and B, assort independently, and alleles A and B are dominant over alleles a
and b. Indicate the probabilities of producing the following:
a. An AB gamete from an AaBb individual?
¼ AB, ¼ Ab, ¼ aB , ¼ ab
A a
B A a
B B
b Ab ab

b. An AABB zygote from a cross AaBb × AaBb?

¼ AA X ¼ BB = 1/16 AABB
A a
A AA Aa
a Aa aa

B b
B BB Bb
b Bb bb

c. An AB phenotype from a cross AaBb × AaBb?

*Crosses above -> ¾ A X ¾ B = 9/16 AB
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d. An aB phenotype from a cross AaBb × AaBB?

*Aa cross above ¼ a X 4/4 B = ¼ aB
B B
B BB BB
b Bb Bb

19. Alkaptonuria is a metabolic disorder in which affected persons produce black urine.
Alkaptonuria results from an allele (a) that is recessive to the allele for normal metabolism (A).
Sally has normal metabolism, but her brother has alkaptonuria. Sally’s father has alkaptonuria,
and her mother has normal metabolism.
a. Give the genotypes of Sally, her mother, her father, and her brother.
Sally – Aa , Mother – Aa , Father – aa , Brother - aa
b. If Sally’s parents have another child, what is the probability that this child will have
alkaptonuria?
1/2
c. If Sally marries a man with alkaptonuria, what is the probability that their first child will have
alkaptonuria?
1/2
Chapter 4

20. From which of the following people could the children have inherited an X-linked disease?
a. Their mother’s mother yes
b. Their mother’s father yes
c. Their father’s mother no
d. Their father’s father no

21. In organisms with ZZ-ZW sex-determining system, from which of the following possibilities
can a female inherit her Z chromosome?
a. Her mother’s mother no
b. Her mother’s father no
c. Her father’s mother yes
d. Her father’s father yes

22. Red-green color blindness in humans is due to an X-linked recessive gene. A woman whose
father is color blind possesses one eye with normal color vision and one eye with color
blindness. Propose an explanation for this woman’s vision pattern. Assume that no new
mutations have spontaneously arisen.
One of the 2 X chromosomes in the zygotes must be inactivated. One eye vision is from a cell
that inactivated the normal X, to be color-blind. The other eye may be a cell that inactivated the
color-blind X.

23. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a recessive disease. Joe, who is not diseased, has a sister with CF.
Neither of his parents have CF. What is the probability that Joe is heterozygous for the CF
gene? What is the probability that Joe does not have the CF allele?
Joe is 2/3 probability heterozygous Aa for the CF gene; 1/3 probability homozygous dominant
AA.
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24. While doing field work in Madagascar, you discover a new dragonfly species that has either red
(R) or clear (r) wings. Initial crosses indicate that R is dominant to r. You perform three crosses
using three different sets of red-winged parents with unknown genotype and observe the
following data:
Cross Phenotypes 1: 72 red-winged, 24 clear-winged
Cross Phenotypes 2: 3 red-winged
Cross Phenotypes 3: 96 red-winged.
What is the most likely genotype for each pair of parents?
Cross 1: Rr x Rr, Cross 2: Rr x RR or RR x RR, Cross 3: Rr X RR or RR x RR

Chapter 5

25. A man of what blood group could not be the father of a child of blood type AB?
The father cannot be O blood type. He has to be either A, B, or AB according to the genotypes.

26. If there are five alleles at a locus, how many genotypes may there be at this locus? How many
different kinds of homozygotes will there be?
# = n(n+1)/2 so with n =5…… 5(6)/2 = 15 possible genotypes and 5 possible homozygotes

27. Patterned baldness is more frequent in males than in females. The appreciable difference in
frequency is assumed to result from
c. Sex-influenced autosomal inheritance

28. How could one tell the difference between cytoplasmic inheritance and genetic maternal effect?
Cytoplasmic inheritance is traits encoded from cytoplasmic genomes inherited usually only
from the mother, so the trait will always be passed through females. The genetic maternal effect
is traits encoded by autosomal genes that can be inherited from both patents but the progeny’s
phenotype is determined by the mother’s genotype.

29. In sheep, white fleece (W) is dominant over black (w), and horned (H) is dominant over
hornless (h) in males, but recessive in females. Assuming no interactions between genes, if a
homozygous horned white ram is bred to a homozygous hornless black ewe, what will be the
appearances of the F1 and the F2 sheep?
P: WWHH (ram) X wwhh (ewe)
W W H H
w Ww Ww X h Hh Hh
w Ww Ww h Hh Hh
F1: WwHh – one white horned male ram, and one white hornless female ewe
W w H h
W WW Ww X H HH Hh
w Ww ww h Hh hh
F2: WWHH, WWHh, WWhh, WwHH, WwHh, Wwhh, wwHH, wwHh, wwhh
But out of 16 possibilities including duplicates:
9 white horned males, 3 black horned males, 3 white hornless males, 1 black hornless male
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AND 9 white hornless females, 3 black hornless females, 3 white horned females, 1 black
horned female

30. A plant is heterozygous for a trait that displays incomplete dominance. If it is used in a test
cross, what proportion of the progeny will be homozygous recessive?
¼ homozygous dominant, ½ heterozygous, ¼ homozygous recessive

31. Assume that hairy toes (hh) and brittle ear wax (ww) are both recessive traits in humans, and
these loci assort independently. In a family where both parents are heterozygotes at both loci
(they have smooth toes and sticky ear wax). What is the probability that the family will have
one hairy-toed, brittle ear-waxed boy?

Because they are asking about male sex I’m going to multiply my answer by ½.

H h W w

H HH Hh X W WW Ww

h Hh hh w Ww ww

¼ hh X ¼ ww X ½ boy = 1/32 chance hhww XY

32. The inability to make the pigment melanin results in albinism, a recessive condition. Two
normal parents have a first child that is albino (genotype aa). What is the probability of the
second child who is normal? What is the probability of the second child who is albino?
¾ probability of second child normal; 1/4 probability of second child albino
Chapter 6

33. Consider the following pedigree, in which the allele responsible for trait (a) is recessive to the
normal allele (A):
Autosomal dominant???

a. What is the genotype of the mother? Aa

b. What is the genotype of the father? aa
c. What are the genotypes of the five children? 1 : Aa, 2 : aa, 3 : Aa, 4 : Aa, 5 : aa
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34. Are the traits in the following two pedigrees recessive or dominant?

Pedigree A is autosomal recessive. Pedigree B is autosomal dominant.

35. How can you distinguish between an autosomal recessive trait with higher penetrance in males
and an X-linked recessive trait?
X-linked recessive traits never pass from father to son.

36. Why might an autosomal dominant trait skip a generation?

Because a new mutation occurs or the penetrance is reduced.

37. The genetic difference between monozygotic twins is about 0%. The genetic difference between
dizygotic twins is about 50%. The genetic difference between non-twin, biological brothers (or
sisters or brother/sister) is about 50% (same as dizygotic twins).

38. A disease has a prevalence of 0.1%. A test to detect this disease has a false positive rate of 5%.
What is the chance that a person found to have a positive result actually has the disease?
P = .001
Fp = .05
NotP = .999
Positives = 1

X = (1 x .001) / [(.001 x 1)+(.05 x .999)] = .0199 = .02 = 2% probability of 1 person positive