Question

The ability to roll the tongue in humans is coded by the dominant allele R. The inability to roll the tongue is coded by the recessive allele r. A man with an RR allele combination for the trait produces a zygote with a woman with an rr allele combination for the trait. Which allele combination could occur in the zygote?

RR

Rr

R

rr

Answer 1

The allele combination that could occur in the zygote is Rr.

Step-by-step explanation:

A diploid parent contributes one allele of a gene to the gamete. Thus the gametes in human reproduction will be haploid so as to maintain the diploid nature of the zygote. In the given question both parents are homozygous and the inheritance follows Mendel’s laws.

The dominant allele is represented by the letter R and the recessive allele is represented by the letter r. One parent is homozygous dominant which means both the alleles in that parent is dominant and the genotype will be RR. The other parent is homozygous recessive with the genotype rr.

The cross can be represented as

`RR   *     rr`

Rr Rr Rr Rr

All the progenies will have the genotype Rr and will be dominant and possess the ability to roll the tongue.