THE DIHYBRID

CROSS
Studying the inheritance of two
characters simultaneously

© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Mendel’s peas

Character Trait Allele

Seed shape Round R
Wrinkled r
Cotyledon colour Yellow Y
Green y

© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Combinations
Genotype Phenotype
RRYY Round Yellow
RRYy Round Yellow
RrYY Round Yellow
RrYy Round Yellow
RRyy Round Green
Rryy Round Green
rrYY Wrinkled Yellow
rrYy Wrinkled Yellow
rryy Wrinkled Green
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Is the inheritance of one character
affected by the inheritance of another?

P Phenotypes Round x Wrinkled (Pure Bred)

Yellow Green
F1 Phenotypes All Round (Selfed)
Yellow

F2 Phenotypes
Seed colour
Yellow Green TOTAL RATIO
Seed Round 315 108 423
shape Wrinkled 101 32 133
TOTAL 416 140 556
RATIO
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Is the inheritance of one character
affected by the inheritance of another?

P Phenotypes Round x Wrinkled (Pure Bred)

Yellow Green
F1 Phenotypes All Round (Selfed)
Yellow

F2 Phenotypes
Seed colour
Yellow Green TOTAL RATIO
Seed Round 315 108 423 3.18
shape Wrinkled 101 32 133 1
TOTAL 416 140 556
RATIO 2.97 1
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS
 A dihybrid cross can be treated as two
separate monohybrid crosses

The expected probability of each type of seed can

be calculated:

 Probability of an F2 seed being round = 75% or 3/4

 Probability of an F2 seed being wrinkled =
 Probability of an F2 seed being yellow =
 Probability of an F2 seed being green =

© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

 A dihybrid cross can be treated as two
separate monohybrid crosses
The expected probability of each type of seed can
be calculated:

 Probability of an F2 seed being round = 75% or 3/4

 Probability of an F2 seed being wrinkled = 25% or 1/4
 Probability of an F2 seed being yellow = 75% or 3/4
 Probability of an F2 seed being green = 25% or 1/4

© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Therefore

 Probability of an F2 seed being round and yellow

= 3/4 x 3/4 = 9/16 = 56.25%

 Probability of an F2 seed being round and green

=

 Probability of an F2 seed being wrinkled and yellow

=

 Probability of an F2 seed being wrinkled and green

=
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Therefore

 Probability of an F2 seed being round and yellow

= 3/4 x 3/4 = 9/16 = 56.25%

 Probability of an F2 seed being round and green

= 3/4 x 1/4 = 3/16 = 18.75%

 Probability of an F2 seed being wrinkled and yellow

= 1/4 x 3/4 = 3/16 = 18.75%

 Probability of an F2 seed being wrinkled and green

= 1/4 x 1/4 =1/16 = 6.25%
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Predicting how many seeds we could expect to
get in a sample

We could What Mendel

expect observed
556 x 9/16 round yellow 313 315

556 x 3/16 round green 108

556 x 3/16 wrinkled yellow 101

556 x 1/16 wrinkled green 32

© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Predicting how many seeds we could expect
to get in a sample

We could What Mendel

expect observed
556 x 9/16 round yellow 313 315

556 x 3/16 round green 104 108

556 x 3/16 wrinkled yellow 104 101

556 x 1/16 wrinkled green 35 32

© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

 THE LAW OF INDEPENDENT
ASSORTMENT
 It appears that the inheritance of seed
shape has no influence over the
inheritance of seed colour
 The two characters are inherited
INDEPENDENTLY
 The pairs of alleles that control these
two characters assort themselves
independently

© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Mendel & Meiosis

 The pairs of chromosomes could orientate in

different ways at Anaphase 1

© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Dihybrid cross genetic diagram

P Phenotypes Round Yellow X Wrinkled Green (Pure bred)

seed seed
Genotypes RRYY rryy
meiosis meiosis

Gametes RY ry
fertilisation

F1 Genotypes RrYy (Selfed)

Phenotypes Round Yellow

Proportions 100%

© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Dihybrid cross genetic diagram

F1 Genotypes RrYy (Selfed)

Phenotypes Round Yellow

Proportions 100%

meiosis

Gametes Y y
R RY Ry
r rY ry
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Dihybrid cross genetic diagram

Gametes Y y

R RY Ry
r rY ry
fertilisation

F2 Genotypes RY Ry rY ry
RY RRYY RRYy RrYY RrYy
Ry RRYy RRyy RrYy Rryy
rY RrYY RrYy rrYY rrYy
ry RrYy Rryy rrYy rryy
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Dihybrid cross proportions

Phenotypes Proportions
Round Yellow 9/16 or 56.25%
Round Green
Wrinkled Yellow
Wrinkled Green

© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Dihybrid cross proportions

Phenotypes Proportions
Round Yellow 9/16 or 56.25%
Round Green 3/16 or 18.75%
Wrinkled Yellow 3/16 or 18.75%
Wrinkled Green 1/16 or 6.25%

© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Dihybrid test cross
 In monohybrid crosses, to know if a dominant
trait is homozygous (RR) or heterozygous (Rr)
it is necessary to carry out a test cross
 using a homozygous recessive (rr) individual
 The same is true for a dihybrid cross where
 The test cross is made with an individual which
is homozygous recessive for both characters
(rryy).

© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Dihybrid test cross

Phenotypes Round Yellow X Wrinkled Green

Genotypes RrYy rryy

Gametes RY, Ry, rY, ry ry

Genotypes RY Ry rY ry
ry RrYy Rryy rrYy rryy

Phenotypes Round Round Wrinkled Wrinkled

Yellow Green Yellow Green
Proportions 1/4 or 25% 1/4 or 25% 1/4 or 25% 1/4 or 25%
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS