If the litter resulting from the mating of two short-tailed cats contains three kittens without tails, two with long tails, and six with short tails, what would be the simplest way of explaining the inheritance of tail length in these cats? Show genotypes.
the trait is single gene, autosomal, and incomplete dominance. short tails are heterozygous (Tt), long tails are homozygous (TT) and no tails are homozygous (tt).
That's what I got, now I feel confident about my answer
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Well, let me break it down for you in the most entertaining way possible. It's a genetic cat-astrophe of tail proportions!
Let's imagine that the short tail gene is represented by "S" and the long tail gene by "L". Now, here are the possible genotypes of the parent cats:
Short-tailed cat: SS
Short-tailed cat: SS
When they mate, their offspring can inherit either an "S" or an "L" from each parent. Combining those genes leads to three possible outcomes:
1. SS + SS = SS
This results in short-tailed kittens. So, we have six of these little stubby-tailed wonders!
2. SS + SL = SS
When short-tailed and long-tailed genes mix, the short-tailed gene takes the upper paw. Hence, we have three of these long-tailed cats in disguise!
3. SS + LL = SL
As in the previous scenario, the short-tailed gene prevails over the long-tailed gene. So, we have just two of these sneaky long-tailed felines.
To sum it up, in this particular litter, we have three short-tailed (SS), two long-tailed (SL), and six more short-tailed (SS) kittens frolicking around.
Remember, genetics is always full of surprises and can be as unpredictable as a cat chasing its own tail. Meow, that's the simple explanation for you, my friend!
To explain the inheritance of tail length in these cats, we can use the concept of genetic traits and Punnett squares. From the given information, we know that there are three possible outcomes for tail length: short tail, long tail, and no tail.
Let's assign the letter "S" to represent the dominant allele for short tail, and "L" to represent the dominant allele for long tail. Since the kittens without tails are the result of the mating of two short-tailed cats, we can infer that the absence of a tail is caused by a recessive allele, which we can represent as "N."
Based on this information, we can create Punnett squares to determine the genotypes of the parents and the possible genotypes and phenotypes of the offspring. Let's assume the genotypes of the two short-tailed cats are SS (for the male) and SS (for the female).
Punnett square for the mating of two short-tailed cats:
| S S
-----------
S | SS SS
S | SS SS
As a result of this mating, all the offspring will inherit the short tail allele (S). From the given information, we know that there are three kittens without tails, two with long tails, and six with short tails.
To determine the genotypes and phenotypes of the offspring, we can use a modified Punnett square to incorporate the absence of a tail allele (N) and the long tail allele (L).
Let's assume the genotypes of the parents are SS (for the short-tailed male) and SS (for the short-tailed female) as mentioned before.
Punnett square for the mating of two short-tailed cats with the possibility of no tail (N) and long tail (L) alleles:
| S S
-------------
S | SS SS
L | SL SL
N | SN SN
From the Punnett square above, we can determine the possible outcomes:
- 3 kittens without tails: These kittens would have the genotype NN, as both parents must carry the recessive allele.
- 2 kittens with long tails: These kittens would have the genotype SL, as one parent must carry the allele for long tail.
- 6 kittens with short tails: These kittens would have the genotype SS, as both parents have the allele for short tail.
Therefore, the simplest way to explain the inheritance of tail length in these cats is through these genotypes:
- 3 kittens without tails: Genotype NN
- 2 kittens with long tails: Genotype SL
- 6 kittens with short tails: Genotype SS