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Spectrum of Dominance (Complete, Incomplete, & Codominance)

SPECTRUM OF DOMINANCE
Complete Dominance
  • Phenotype of the heterozygote and dominant homozygote are indistinguishable
Ex. Pea plant flower color
  • F2 generation 3:1 dominant to recessive ratio
Codominance
  • Phenotype of both alleles are present in the heterozygote
Ex. Snapdragon flower color
  • F1 generation from a red and a white flower is pink
  • F2 generation is 1:2:1 red to pink to white ratio
Incomplete dominance
  • Phenotype of the heterozygote is intermediate between the phenotypes of the two homozygotes
Ex. Human blood group
Multiple alleles
More than two alleles for a single gene
  • Group A blood – IAIA or IAi – Carbohydrate A on surface of blood cells
  • Group B blood – IBIB or IBi – Carbohydrate B on surface of blood cells
  • Group AB blood – IAIB – Both carbohydrate A and carbohydrate B on surface of blood cells
  • Group O blood – ii – No blood group carbohydrate on the surface of blood cells
Tay-Sachs disease
  • Unable to metabolize certain lipids in the brain due to lack of certain enzyme
  • Organismal (individual level) – Functional allele is dominant
  • Biochemical level – Disease and functional allele exhibit incomplete dominance
  • Molecular level – Disease and functional allele exhibit codominance
Pleiotropy
Single gene can have multiple phenotypic effects