Question

Eyelash length is an inherited trait. In the human population, there is an eyelash length gene. There are two possible variants of this gene—an allele for long eyelashes (> 1cm) and an allele for short eyelashes (1 cm or less). The allele for long eyelashes is dominant (L) and the allele for short eyelashes is recessive (l). An individual who is heterozygous for eyelash length would have which of the following genotypes?

A.Short eyelashes
B.Ll
C.LL
D.Long eyelashes

Answer 1

A heterozygous individual for eyelash length would have the genotype represented by 'Ll', with one dominant allele for long eyelashes and one recessive allele for short eyelashes, and will express the long eyelashes phenotype.

Step-by-step explanation:

An individual who is heterozygous for eyelash length would have a combination of one dominant allele and one recessive allele for this gene, meaning they would have one allele for long eyelashes and one allele for short eyelashes. According to the dominant-recessive inheritance pattern, the dominant allele will determine the phenotype when an individual is heterozygous. Therefore, a heterozygous individual will express the trait associated with the dominant allele, which in this case is long eyelashes. The genotype for a person with heterozygous eyelash length is represented by the letters Ll, where 'L' is the dominant allele for long eyelashes and 'l' is the recessive allele for short eyelashes.