Question

In a certain breed of cat, the allele for short hair is dominant (S) over the allele for long hair (s). What is the genotype of a short-haired cat?

a) SS
b) Ss
c) ss
d) Cannot be determined

Answer 1

The genotype of a short-haired cat could either be homozygous dominant (SS) or heterozygous (Ss), but without more genetic information, we cannot determine which one is correct.

Step-by-step explanation:

The genotype of a short-haired cat in the scenario described would be either SS (homozygous dominant) or Ss (heterozygous). Since short hair is the dominant trait, a cat only needs one copy of the S allele to display the short-hair phenotype. Therefore, without more information about the cat's parents or its offspring, we cannot determine whether the cat is homozygous or heterozygous for the trait. Thus, the correct answer is d) Cannot be determined.