Question

A male mouse with a grey coat is mated with an albino female. Their six offspring all have grey fur. The albino female is then mated with a second grey male mouse. Four of the seven offspring in this litter are albino. 1.What are the probable genotypes of the three-parent mice?

Answer 1

The first grey male mouse is likely heterozygous (C), albino female mouse is homozygous recessive (), and the second grey male mouse is also likely heterozygous (C). The mice's fur color is determined by a single gene, in which the dominant allele (C) codes for color and the recessive allele (c) codes for albino.

Step-by-step explanation:

Based on the information provided, the probable genotypes for the three parent mice are as follows: The first grey male mouse must be heterozygous (C) since all the offspring were grey, meaning they must have inherited at least one C allele (for color) from their father, the other allele c (for albino) from the mother. The albino female mouse must be homozygous recessive () for the albino trait, as this is a recessive trait and she displays it. The second grey male mouse that produced albino offspring when paired with the albino female is also likely heterozygous (C), as half of his offspring were albino (indicating that they received the albino allele from him) and half were grey, meaning they received the C allele from him.

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