Question

Pigeons have long been the subject of genetic studies. Indeed, Charles Darwin bred pigeons in the hope of unraveling the principles of heredity but was unsuccessful. A series of genetic investigations in the early 1900s worked out the hereditary basis of color variation in these birds. W. R. Horlancher was interested in the genetic basis of kiteness, a color pattern that consists of a mixture of red and black stippling of the feathers. He carried out the following crosses to investigate the genetic relationship of kiteness to black and red feather color (W. R. Horlancher. 1930. Genetics 15:312-346). Show Work

a. On the basis of these results, propose a hypothesis to explain the inheritance of kitey, black, and red feather color in pigeons. (Hint: Assume that two loci are involved and some type of epistasis occurs.)

b. For each of the preceding crosses, test your hypothesis by using a chi-square test.

Answer 1

b: solution ktey Black Re 13.5 2.S o-ly 6 4.5 |-0.5 | 0,056 3 1 .50 2.016M 2 t C Yoss :2 ktey Black7 6 S 6 S o.5 2. o not eject hypothests Cross : 3 served-X katey B lack 25 | -2.25 | 0.61 45.54 Red8 Tota 33 eject hypothests