Question

n rabbits, full coat color (Cf) is the dominant trait. A second allele, chinchilla (Cch) is recessive to full coat color. Himalayan coat color (Ch) is recessive to chinchilla and full coat colors and albino (c) is recessive to all coat colors. If two Himalayan rabbits mate, what coat colors may be found in their offspring?

Answer 1

When two Himalayan rabbits mate, all their offspring will also display the Himalayan phenotype, as this trait is caused by homozygous recessive alleles and both parents will pass on these alleles to their offspring.

Step-by-step explanation:

If two Himalayan rabbits mate, since the Himalayan phenotype is caused by homozygous recessive alleles (ChCh), the offspring will also have the Himalayan coat color. This is because both parents can only contribute the Ch allele to the offspring, resulting in a genotype of ChCh for all offspring. There is a complete dominance hierarchy among the alleles for coat color in rabbits: the full coat color allele (Cf) is dominant over the other alleles, the chinchilla allele (Cch) is intermediate, Himalayan (Ch) is dominant over albino (c), but recessive to Cf and Cch. Therefore, since Himalayan alleles do not produce any other pigment than the one in the cooler regions, and because the two Himalayan rabbits do not carry alleles for other colors, their offspring will only express the Himalayan phenotype.