Question

Pseudohypertrophic muscular dystrophy is an inherited disorder that causes gradual deterioration of the muscles. It is seen almost exclusively in boys born to apparently uneffected parents and usually results in death in the early teens. Is this disorder caused by a dominant or a recessive allele? Is its inheritance sex-linked or autosomal? How do you know? Explain why this disorder is almost never seen in girls.

Answer 1

Answer:

This disorder is caused by a recessive allele, its inheritance is sex-linked.

Explanation:

The disorder affects boys born to unaffected parents, this means that at least one of them has to be a carrier of the allele which causes the disease. So, if the allele was dominant, it would express in parents and sons. But, in this case, only is expressed in sons, so it can´t be dominant. Moreover, this condition has a sex-linked inheritance because it is always seen in boys and never in girls. This happens due to boys only have an X chromosome, so if they inherit the recessive allele of the disease, they will express it. On the other hand, girls have two X chromosomes, so if they inherit one copy of the recessive allele, they will be carriers and they won't be affected.  

This disorder is never seen in females because they need to have two copies of the recessive allele. However, to have double copy, they should inherit one copy from their mothers and one copy of their fathers, but boys with the allele are affected and they die in early teens without having progeny.  Therefore, a girl can't have a "carrier-father", so they will never have two copies to express the disorder.