Biology 120 Notes (Part 19) Continuing the Discussion of Genetic Disorders

Complex Patterns of Inheritance

  (The link for the information obtained on the term “mendelian genetics” is attached here: https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/mendelian+genetics )

  • Most patterns of inheritance are more complex than previously thought.
  • ==There are several variations of Mendelian genetics which include: Multiple alleles, Codominance, Incomplete Dominance, Pleiotropy, Polygenetic Inheritance, and X-Linked Inheritance.==

  ### Multiple Alleles

  • In explaining ==multiple alleles==, it describes how several alleles for a given trait exist in a population.
  • Though many alleles are available, each person will only possess two.
  • For example, blood type.
  • There are three possible allele combinations: ==IA (A antigen is on the red blood cells), IB (B antigen is on the red blood cells), and i (there are neither A nor B antigens on the red blood cells).==
  • There are also multiple blood type alleles.
  • For the ==A phenotype==, the ==genotype can be IAIA or IBi==.
  • For the ==B phenotype==, the ==genotype can be either be IBIB or IBi==.
  • For the ==AB phenotype==, the ==genotype can only be IAIB==.
  • For the ==O phenotype==, the ==genotype can only be ii==.
Codominance
  • ==Codominance== occurs when two dominant alleles are equally expressed.
  • Some examples include AB blood type, roan cattle and horses, and some flower cultivars.
Incomplete Dominance
  • ==Incomplete Dominance== occurs when the heterozygous phenotype is intermediate between homozygous dominant and recessive phenotypes.
  • Some examples include flower color in some species and Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) in humans.
Pleiotropy
  • ==Pleiotropy== occurs when a single mutant gene affects two or more distinct traits.
  • Some examples include Cystic Fibrosis and Sickle Cell -- severe anemia, poor circulation, pain, high fever, spleen damage, paralysis.
Polygenic Inheritance
  • ==Polygenic Inheritance== occurs when a trait is governed by two or more sets of alleles, i.e., AaBbCc.
  • ==Alleles== can be on different chromosomes.
  • Some examples include height, skin color, hair color, and eye color.
X-Linked Inheritance
  • ==X-Linked Inheritance== refers to genes that are located on the x chromosome but have nothing to do with gender.
  • ==X-linked recessive disorders== affect males disproportionality.
  • Some examples include color blindness, ==hemophilia== (causes internal bleeding), and ==Muscular Dystrophy== (the wasting away of muscles).

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