Question

Fur color in animals is frequently controlled by more than one gene. However, brown fur in rabbits is dominant over white fur. A white female gives birth to all white rabbits, even though the father had brown fur. Show how this is possible.

Answer 1

Answer:

Please find how this is possible in the explanation below

Explanation:

This question is regarding a gene in rabbit coding for fur color. Brown fur (B) in rabbits is dominant over white fur (b). However, according to the question, a white female gives birth to all white rabbits, even though the father had brown fur. This is possible because the father is heterozygous for the brown fur i.e Bb.

Hence, in a cross between a heterozygous father (Bb) and a white mother (bb), the following gametes will be produced by the following parent:

Bb - B and b

bb - b and b

Using these gametes in a punnet square (see attached image), the probability of 1/2 of the offsprings will possess white fur (bb). Based on this result, the white female is able to give birth to all white rabbits because the male rabbit contributed the white allele (b).