Question

Many farmers prefer cattle without horns because it is safer for their herds. the allele for no horns (n) is dominant to the allele for the presence of horns (n). a farmer mates a male with horns to a heterozygous female without horns. what is the chance that the offspring will have horns?

O ¼
O 4/4
O ¾
O ½
O 0/4

Answer 1

The chance that the offspring will have horns when a horned male (nn) is mated with a heterozygous hornless female (Nn) is 1/2 or 50%. (option 4 is the correct answer).

Step-by-step explanation:

In the scenario where a farmer mates a male with horns that has recessive alleles (nn) to a heterozygous female without horns which has one dominant and one recessive allele (Nn), the chance that the offspring will have horns can be calculated using a Punnett Square.

Since the male can only contribute a recessive allele (n) and the female can contribute either a dominant (N) or recessive allele (n), the possible genotypes for their offspring are Nn (no horns) or nn (with horns).

When we set up the Punnett Square for this cross, it shows that there is a 50% chance (2 out of 4) for an offspring to be nn (with horns) and a 50% chance to be Nn (without horns). Therefore, the chance that the offspring will have horns is 1/2 or 50%.