Feather Color Inheritance Mystery Unveiled

How can the presence of three different feather colors in the offspring be explained?

The data shows that a gray feathered rooster mates with a gray feathered hen, resulting in offspring with gray, white, and black feathers. How is this possible?

Final Answer:

The presence of three different feather colors in the offspring suggests incomplete dominance or codominance in feather color inheritance. A gray feathered rooster and hen can produce gray, black, and white feathered chickens if they are both heterozygous, predicting a 1:2:1 phenotypic ratio.

Explanation: The scenario described can be explained using principles of genetics and Mendelian inheritance. A gray feathered rooster and a gray feathered hen, both showing a phenotype of gray feathers, have produced offspring with three different feather colors: gray, white, and black. This suggests that gray feathering is an intermediate phenotype likely due to incomplete dominance or codominance, where neither the black nor white allele is completely dominant.

In their offspring, half (16) have the gray phenotype like their parents, while the other half is split between black and white feathering (8 each). This outcome hints at a 1:2:1 phenotypic ratio, which is expected in a dihybrid cross involving intermediate phenotypes. Therefore, the rooster and hen are both probably heterozygous for feather color, carrying both the black and white allele (Bw). When they mate, they can produce offspring with the following genotypes and phenotypes:

BB (black feathers)

Bw (gray feathers)

ww (white feathers)

The genotype Bw paired with another heterozygous Bw genotype can result in black, gray, or white feathered chickens in the aforementioned ratio when viewed in a Punnett square.