Question

If a long tail is a dominant characteristic, in which case is the characteristic of a long tail definitely

expressed?



O when at least one allele contains instructions for a long tail



O when both parents have a long tail



O when both alleles contain instructions for a long tail



O when at least one parent has a long tail

Answer 1

when at least one allele contains instructions for a long tail

when both alleles contain instructions for a long tail

Step-by-step explanation:

If long tail is a dominant characteristic, it will definitely be expressed at least, one of the two alleles making up a gene contains instructions for a long tail or when both alleles contain instructions for a long tail.

For example, if long tail is represented by the allele A, the alternate version being a; the genotypes whose expression will lead to long tail will be AA and Aa.

While both alleles contain instructions for long tail in the former (AA), only one allele contains the instruction in the latter (Aa) but its expression overrides that of the other allele.

Answer 2

When at least one allele contains instructions for a long tail

Step-by-step explanation:

Gregor Mendel discovered that an organism receives two forms of a gene called ALLELE for a particular trait. Each allele encodes or represent a different trait in that same gene. However, according to Mendel, one allele called DOMINANT allele is capable of masking the expression of the other allele, called RECESSIVE allele. This means that in a heterozygous state i.e. combination of the two different alleles, the dominant trait encoded by the dominant allele will always be expressed.

In this case, the dominant characteristics or trait is long tail. This means that the allele for long tail will always mask the phenotypic expression of its allele pair in the tail length gene. Therefore, the characteristics of a long tail will definitely be expressed in two ways:

1. If both alleles in that gene encodes for the dominant trait i.e. long tail. This means both alleles will be dominant and the same, a term called HOMOZYGOUS DOMINANT.

2. If one of the two alleles that make up the tail length gene is dominant (long tail allele) and the other is recessive. Since the dominant allele will mask its phenotypic expression, the long tail (dominant trait) will be expressed. This is called HETEROZYGOUS DOMINANT.

Therefore, the long tail characteristics will be expressed if AT LEAST one of the two alleles contains information for a long tail (dominant characteristics)