Question

Myotonia congenita is a condition that causes temporary muscle stiffness.When goats with myotonia congenita attempt to run from a resting position, theirleg muscles often stiffen, causing them to fall over. Because of this behavior,these goats are referred to as fainting goats. Myotonia congenita is also found inother mammals, including horses, cats, and humans.In a group of goats, some individuals have myotonia congenita and others do not. In thisgroup, the gene for the myotonia congenita trait has two alleles. The allele M is for havingmyotonia congenita, and the allele m is for not having myotonia congenita.Boxer is a goat from this group. Boxer's phenotype for the myotonia congenita trait is havingmyotonia congenita. Boxer's genotype for the myotonia congenita gene is Mm.Based on this information, complete the following statement.Boxer isfor the myotonia congenita gene.homozygousheterozygous

Answer 1

The trait of interest is the presence of Myotonia congenita in goats.

There are two possible phenotypes for this trait:

- Normal individuals (they do not suffer the condition)

- Individuals with Myotonia congenita.

This trait is coded by two alleles:

-M → codes for the condition

-m → is a normal allele

Considering the goat "Boxer" that suffers Myotonia congenita, it is known that the genotype of this goat is Mm.

A genotype that has two different copies of the alleles, this means, it has one dominant allele and one recessive allele, is called heterozygous.

So the genotype of Boxer is heterozygous.