What is the chance of having offspring from the FfEe x FfEe cross having either the ffee
or FFEE genotypes? Using the laws of probability, describe how you might reach the
chance of having offspring that would have a genotype of ffee or FFEE without using a
Punnett square.
To determine the chance of having offspring with either the ffee or FFEE genotypes from the cross FfEe x FfEe, we can use the laws of probability.
First, let's break down the genotype of each parent:
Parent 1: FfEe
Parent 2: FfEe
Each parent has two heterozygous genotype combinations, Ff and Ee.
To calculate the probability of having offspring with the ffee or FFEE genotypes, we need to consider the possible combinations:
1. Offspring with ffee genotype:
- We need both parents to contribute the lowercase alleles (ff) for the offspring to have the ffee genotype.
- The probability of selecting an 'f' allele from Parent 1 is 1/2, and the probability of selecting an 'f' allele from Parent 2 is also 1/2.
- By multiplying the probabilities, we get (1/2) * (1/2) = 1/4.
2. Offspring with FFEE genotype:
- We need both parents to contribute the uppercase alleles (FF) for the offspring to have the FFEE genotype.
- The probability of selecting an 'F' allele from Parent 1 is 1/2, and the probability of selecting an 'F' allele from Parent 2 is also 1/2.
- By multiplying the probabilities, we get (1/2) * (1/2) = 1/4.
To find the total probability of having either the ffee or FFEE genotypes, we can simply add the individual probabilities together:
(1/4) + (1/4) = 2/4 = 1/2
Therefore, the chance of having offspring from the FfEe x FfEe cross with either the ffee or FFEE genotypes is 1/2 or 50%.