Question

Marfan syndrome in humans is caused by an abnormality of the connective tissue protein fibrillin. Patients are usually very tall and thin, with long spindly fingers, curvature of the spine, sometimes weakened arterial walls, and sometimes ocular problems, such as lens dislocation. Which of the following would you conclude about Marfan syndrome from this information?

A.It is recessive.
B.It is dominant.
C.It has a late age of onset (> 60).
D. It is pleiotropic.
E. It is epistatic.

Answer 1

Marfan syndrome is a genetic condition caused by a mutation in the fibrillin gene and is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. It is a pleiotropic disorder, not epistatic, and does not have a gender bias in inheritance or necessarily a late age of onset.

Step-by-step explanation:

Marfan syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects connective tissue due to a mutation in the fibrillin gene. This syndrome is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern, which means that only a single copy of the abnormal gene is needed to cause the disorder. This condition is pleiotropic, indicating that it has several effects on different parts of the body, such as the skeletal system, ocular system, and cardiovascular system. Although Marfan syndrome is dominant, it is not related to gender, meaning that both male and female offspring have an equal chance of inheriting the disorder. Additionally, it does not necessarily have a late age of onset, unlike some other autosomal dominant diseases like Huntington's disease. Unlike epistatic disorders, which interfere with the expression of other genes, pleiotropy refers to a single gene affecting multiple systems or traits, which is the case with Marfan syndrome.