BioSc 231 General Genetics Exam 1 Name __________________________________

Multiple Choice. (1 point each)

_____An allele is ___.

A. one of the bases in DNA

B. an alternate form of a gene
C. another term for epistasis
D. present only in males and is responsible for sex determination
E. found in mitochondria but not in nuclei

_____What ratios typically result from crosses dealing with two genes?

A. 9:3:3:1, 1:1:1:1
B. 1:1:1:1, 1:4:6:4:1
C. 3:1, 1:1, 1:2:1
D. 9:7, 12:3:1
E. 15:1, 1:2

_____During interphase of the cell cycle ___.

A. DNA recombines
B. Sister chromatics move to opposite poles
C. The nuclear membrane disappears
D. RNA replicates
E. DNA content essentially doubles

_____ What is the probability that on four flips of a coin, heads will occur on one flip and tails will occur on three flips?

A. ¼
A. ½
B. 3/16
C. 1/8
D. insufficient information to answer this question

_____In monohybrid crosses, the ratio 3:1 indicates ___.

A. Segregation of alleles
B. Independent assortment
C. Intermediate dominance
D. Three alleles for each trait

_____In which of the following situations would probabilities be calculated using the addition rule?

A. What is the probability of having three children and all of the children being boys?
B. What is the probability of flipping a coin five times with the following result: heads, tails, heads, tails, heads?
C. What is the probability of rolling three dice and getting a 6 on at least one of the dice?
D. What is the probability of a couple having a child having an unaffected child if both are heterozygous for the gene responsible for a
recessive disorder?

_____Starting with a cross between AA and aa in the P generation, the proportion of heterozygotes in the F2 progeny will be ___.

A. 1/8
B. 1/4
C. 1/3
D. 1/2
E. All heterozygotes
_____Genotype is to DNA as phenotype is to

A. Genotype
B. Proteins
C. Expressivity
D. RNA
E. Mutation

_____The fundamental Mendelian process which involves the separation of contrasting genetic elements at the same gene would be
called ___.

A. segregation
B. independent assortment
C. continuous variation
D. discontinuous variation
E. dominance or recessiveness

_____Chromosomes that are matched up or paired at metaphase of meiosis I are called ___?

A. homologous
B. heterologous
C. complementary
D. non-disjunctive
E. parallel

_____Albinism, lack of pigmentation in humans, results from an autosomal recessive gene designated a. Two parents with normal
pigmentation have an albino child. What is the probability that their next child will have normal pigmentation? What is the
probability that the next child will be an albino girl?

B. ¼; 1/8
C. 3/4, ¼
D. ¼; ½
A. 3/4, 1/8
B. 1/8; ¼

_____ The probability that one of five children in a family will all be males is

A. 1/32
B. 1/16
C. 1/2
D. 5/16
E. 5/32

_____ Individuals whose genotype is represented by the alleles Aa are described as

A. heterozygous
B. dihybrid
C. homozygous
D. homologous
E. dominant

_____ The purpose for check points in the cell cycle is to

A. cause cells to grow out of control leading to cancers

B. stop mitosis to prevent chromosome duplication
C. stop DNA synthesis to prevent chromosome duplication
D. pause the cell cycle until all the necessary building blocks are synthesized
E. give geneticists something else to study
_____ Which of the following processes occurs in meiosis but not mitosis?

A. cell division
B. Separation of homologous chromosomes to opposite poles
C. Chromatic formation
D. Chromosome condensation (shortening)

_____ The end result of meiosis is

A. two cells with the exact same chromosome complement of the starting cell
B. two cells with half the chromosome complement of the starting cell
C. four cells with the exact same chromosome complement of the starting cell
D. four cells with half the chromosome complement of the starting cell

_____ A population that always produces offspring with a specific phenotype is described as

A. true-breading
B. monomorphic
C. polymorphic
D. boring

_____ To determine if an organism with a dominant phenotype is heterozygous, one can perform a ___.

A. reciprocal cross
B. monohybrid cross
C. didhybrid cross
D. testcross

Short Answer. (variable points)

What are the three stages of the interphase of the cell cycle?

Brown seed color in peas is dominant to yellow. Assume that Mendel conducted a series of experiments where plants with brown
seeds were crossed among themselves and the following progeny were produced: 465 brown and 450 yellow. What is the most
probable genotype of each parent?

Under what conditions does one expect a 1:1:1:1 phenotypic ratio?

Deafness in humans can be caused by a rare autosomal dominant gene. In a mating involving a deaf man and a deaf woman, could all
the children have normal hearing? Explain.

Calculate the probability of having three girls and two boys in a family with five children.
What is the probability of 6 successive female births?

What is the probability of having 6 girls and one boy in a family?

With respect to chromosomal composition, what is a fundamental difference between the processes of mitosis and meiosis?

Albinism is a recessive trait which results from lack of the skin pigment melanin. Two normally pigmented parents have a child with
albinism. What is the probability that the parents will have another child that has albinism? What is the probability of the couple
having three children, two that are normal and one that is albino?

Draw a Punnet square for the following cross: HhBb x HhBb and circle the genotypes that will produce individuals who have one
dominant phenotype and one recessive phenotype.
A breed of mice can have either black fur or brown fur. For each of the crosses given below, write the most probable genotype (or
genotypes if more than one answer is possible) for the PARENTS.

Parental phenotypes Phenotypes of Offspring

Black fur Brown fur

A) black fur x brown fur 27 32

B) black fur x black fur 34 13

C) black fur x brown fur 45 0

Cross A Cross B Cross C

The autosomal gene for brachydactyly (short fingers) is dominant to normal finger length. Assume that a female with brachydactyly
in the heterozygous condition is married to a man with normal fingers. What is the probability that:

Their first child will have normal fingers? That their first two children will have They will have one child with normal
normal fingers? fingers and one child with brachydacyly?

In Tigger genetics the symbol B is for bouncy tails and b is for non-bouncy tails, A is for a straight body stripes and a is for zig-zag
body stripes. In a cross between two Tiggers with bouncy tails and straight body stripes and both with the genotypes GgAa what
fraction of the Tiggers will have:

A) Bouncy tails and zig-zag body stripes (1 pt)

B) Zig-zag body stripes (1 pt)

C) Bouncy tails and straight body stripes (1 pt)

D) Bouncy tails (1 pt)

E) Non-bouncy tails and zig-zag body stripes (1 pt)

Normal diploid somatic (body) cells of an organism contain four chromosomes. Assign the symbols A mAp and BmBp to the three
homologous chromosomal pairs. The “m” superscript indicates that the homologue is maternally derived while the “p” indicates a
paternally derived homologue. For each of the cell types given below, draw and label (with reference to the symbols defined above)
an expected chromosomal configuration.

Mitotic Anaphase Anaphase of Meiosis I Anaphase of Meiosis II

Below is a pedigree of a fairly common human hereditary trait where the boxes represent males and the circles females. Shading
symbolizes the abnormal phenotype. Assuming the gene for the disorder is not sex-linked, give the genotype of each individual in the
pedigree.