Question

Honeybees have a haplo-diploid sex determination system where females develop from a fertilized egg (they are diploid, having one allele from the female queen and one allele from the male), and males develop from unfertilized eggs (they are haploid, having only one allele from the queen). Assuming that the queen is heterozygous for a particular gene, what is the probability that a female will inherit the recessive allele from her mother? What is the probability that a male will inherit a recessive allele from his mother?

a) Probability of female inheriting recessive allele = 0.5; Probability of male inheriting recessive allele = 1.0

b) Probability of female inheriting recessive allele = 0.5; Probability of male inheriting recessive allele = 0.5

c) Probability of female inheriting recessive allele = 1.0; Probability of male inheriting recessive allele = 0.5

d) Probability of female inheriting recessive allele = 1.0; Probability of male inheriting recessive allele = 1.0

Answer 1

The probability that a female honeybee will inherit the recessive allele from a heterozygous queen is 0.5. For male honeybees, the probability of inheriting a recessive allele from the heterozygous queen is also 0.5. Hence, the correct answer is option b.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the haplo-diploid sex determination system of honeybees, females develop from fertilized eggs and are diploid, whereas males originate from unfertilized eggs and are haploid. Given that a queen bee is heterozygous for a given gene, we can determine the probability of an offspring inheriting a recessive allele using Mendelian genetics principles.

For a female offspring (worker bee), the mother (queen bee) contributes two alleles, one of which may be recessive. If the queen is heterozygous (Bb), there is a 50% chance (1 in 2) that a given female offspring will inherit the recessive allele (b). Therefore, the probability is 0.5.

For a male offspring (drone), the male develops from an unfertilized egg, thus receiving only one allele from the mother. If the queen is heterozygous (Bb), there is still a 50% chance that a drone will inherit the recessive allele from her. Consequently, the probability is also 0.5.

The correct option in both parts is option b: the Probability of female inheriting a recessive allele = 0.5 and the Probability of male inheriting a recessive allele = 0.5.