Vesuvian volocano voles are usually black, but some are agouti color. Agouti is

Question

Vesuvian volocano voles are usually black, but some are agouti color. Agouti is the result of a dominant allele at an autosomal locus. Crosses were made between volcano voles known to be homozygous for the agouti allele and normal black individuals known to be homozygous for the recessive allele. Out of 232 offspring, 218 were agouti in color, but 14 were black.

a. What is the most likely genetic explanation for this result?

b. Is it possible that a cross between two black volcano voles chosen at random from the wild could yield three offspring, all of which were agouti in color? Briefly explain your answer.

Explanation / Answer

a) Let thye genotype for homozygous agouti color be AA and the genotype for homozygous black color be aa.

Thus the gametes produced by agouti is A'' and black is 'a'.

Thus the F1 offspring will all be Aa genotype ( agouti color).

But out of 232 offspring, only 218 are agouti.

This can be the result of permissivity/expressivity of the dominant allele..

b) It is not possible because black voles will be of the genotype 'aa'. So the 'A' allele will not be present and agouti color offspring will not be produced.

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