In shorthorn cattle, coat color may be red, white, or roan. Roan is an intermediate phenotype expressed as a mixture of red and white hairs. The following data were obtained from various crosses:

How is coat color inherited? What are the genotypes of parents and offspring for each cross?

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Identify the inheritance pattern. The data shows that crossing red with red produces all red offspring, white with white produces all white offspring, and red with white produces all roan offspring. Roan crossed with roan produces a 1:2:1 ratio of red, roan, and white. This suggests incomplete dominance, where neither allele is completely dominant, and the heterozygote shows an intermediate phenotype.
2. Step 2: Assign genotypes to the coat colors. Let the allele for red be \( R \) and the allele for white be \( W \). Since red crossed with white produces all roan, roan must be the heterozygous genotype \( RW \). Thus, red is \( RR \), white is \( WW \), and roan is \( RW \).
3. Step 3: Analyze each cross using genotypes. For red x red (\( RR \times RR \)), all offspring are \( RR \) (red). For white x white (\( WW \times WW \)), all offspring are \( WW \) (white). For red x white (\( RR \times WW \)), all offspring are \( RW \) (roan).
4. Step 4: For roan x roan (\( RW \times RW \)), use a Punnett square to determine offspring genotypes. The possible genotypes are \( RR \), \( RW \), and \( WW \) in a 1:2:1 ratio, corresponding to red, roan, and white phenotypes respectively.
5. Step 5: Summarize the inheritance: coat color in shorthorn cattle is controlled by incomplete dominance with two alleles, \( R \) and \( W \). The genotypes and phenotypes are: \( RR \) = red, \( WW \) = white, and \( RW \) = roan.

Key Concepts

Incomplete Dominance

Incomplete dominance occurs when neither allele is completely dominant over the other, resulting in a heterozygous phenotype that is intermediate between the two homozygous phenotypes. In shorthorn cattle, red and white coat colors show incomplete dominance, producing roan offspring with a mix of red and white hairs.

Genotype and Phenotype Relationships

Genotypes represent the genetic makeup of an organism, while phenotypes are the observable traits. Understanding how different allele combinations (e.g., RR, RW, WW) correspond to coat colors (red, roan, white) is essential to predict offspring outcomes from various crosses.

Punnett Square and Mendelian Ratios

Punnett squares are tools used to predict the genotypic and phenotypic ratios of offspring from parental crosses. The observed ratios in roan x roan crosses (1/4 red, 1/2 roan, 1/4 white) reflect Mendelian inheritance patterns consistent with incomplete dominance.