Final answer:
The correct statement regarding autosomal dominant inheritance is that affected individuals will inherit a dominant allele from at least one affected parent. Other options offered misconceptions about inheritance probabilities and patterns typically associated with autosomal dominance.
Step-by-step explanation:
Among the statements provided regarding autosomal dominant inheritance, the true statement is that affected individuals will inherit a dominant allele from at least one affected parent. This is because for a trait to be displayed in autosomal dominant inheritance, only one copy of the dominant allele is needed. An individual with an autosomal dominant disorder can be heterozygous (having one copy of the dominant allele and one copy of the recessive allele) or homozygous dominant (having two copies of the dominant allele).
In the case of autosomal dominant inheritance:
- Two heterozygotes have a 50% chance to have an affected offspring, not 25%. This is because there are four possible combinations of alleles that their children can inherit: DD, Dd, dD, or dd, where 'D' represents the dominant allele and 'd' represents the recessive allele. The 'dd' combination would result in an unaffected individual, thus the probability of having an affected offspring is 3 out of 4.
- The trait does not often skip generations, unlike autosomal recessive traits where it can happen if both parents are carriers without showing the disease themselves (heterozygotes).
- All offspring with two affected (homozygous dominant) individuals will indeed be affected, as they will all have inherited the dominant allele. However, this is not true when considering heterozygous individuals.