3. In 1981, a stray black cat with unusual curled-back ears was adopted by a family in California. Suppose you were the person who owned the first "curl" cat, and wanted to develop it into its own breed. How would you determine whether the allele for curled ears is dominant or recessive? Why does it make a difference for breeders whether an allele for a trait is dominant or recessive?

Respuesta :

It is possible to determine whether the allele for curled ears is dominant or recessive by performing a test cross. It is fundamental for breeders because desired traits show differential patterns of inheritance.

In a diploid (2n) organism, a given gene locus exhibit two different variants or forms called 'alleles'.

An individual is homo-zygous when both alleles for a given gene locus are the same, while an individual is heterozygous when alleles are different.

In cases of complete dominance, the expression of the recessive allele is completely masked in heterozygous individuals.

A breeder is a professional who performs genetic crosses between different organisms in order to obtain offspring (eg., plants, animals, etc) with desired phenotypic features.

A test cross is a type of cross that breeders use to determine whether an allele is dominant or recessive (in this case, the allele for curled ears).

In a test cross, the organism that is a carrier of the unidentified allele is crossed with another organism that is believed to be homo-zygous for the recessive trait, and then the proportion of offspring is examined.

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