Question

Coat color in rabbits is inherited as a series of multiple alleles. In the case of rabbits, there are four alleles and each one is expressed with a different phenotype. Look over the summary table below:

phenotype allele pattern of inheritance
dark gray coat C dominant to all other alleles
chinchilla cᶜʰ dominant to Himilayan and to white
Himilayan cʰ dominant to white
white c Recessive

What are the possible genotypes of a chinchilla rabbit?

Answer 1

A chinchilla rabbit's genotype can be cchcch for a homozygous phenotype, or Ccch or cchch for heterozygous combinations, with the chinchilla allele being incompletely dominant over the Himalayan and white alleles.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question pertains to the inheritance of coat colors in rabbits, specifically focusing on the possible genotypes of a chinchilla rabbit. Chinchilla rabbits exhibit a phenotype where the fur appears as black-tipped white fur due to the presence of the chinchilla allele (cch).

This allelic variant is incompletely dominant over the Himalayan (ch) and white (c) alleles but recessive to the wild-type (C) allele. The chinchilla rabbit's genotype could therefore be cchcch for a pure chinchilla rabbit, or Ccch or cchch if the rabbit is heterozygous, where the chinchilla allele is dominant over the Himalayan and white alleles but not the dark gray (C). A Ccch genotype would result in a dark gray coat, but the rabbit would carry the allele for the chinchilla phenotype.