Setting up a Punnett Square

In pea plants, round seeds (R) are dominant to wrinkled seeds (r). In a genetic cross of two plants that are heterozygous for the seed shape trait, what fraction of the offspring should have round seeds?

Monohybrid cross of F1 plants

X Rr Round Rr Round

The figure above represents a monohybrid cross of F1-hybrid plants. Both parent plants are heterozygous (Rr) for an allele that determines seed shape. Presence of the dominant allele (R) in homozygous (RR) or heterozygous (Rr) plants result in round seeds. Homozygous recessive (rr) plants have wrinkled seeds. Key Terms Allele: one of two or more alternate forms of a gene Dominant: describes an allele that is fully expressed whenever the allele is present in an individual Recessive: describes an allele that is expressed only when there is no dominant allele present in an individual Genotype: a specific combination of alleles in an individual (Rr) Phenotype: actual appearance of the individual Homozygous: describes an individual that carries two identical alleles of a gene Heterozygous: describes an individual that carries two different alleles of a gene

To solve problem I (highlighted above), youll need to set up a Punnett square. This tutorial will walk you through that process.
1. Set up a 2 by 2 Punnett square.

2. Write the alleles for parent I on the left side of the Punnett square.

Each gamete will have one of the two alleles of the parent. In this particular cross, half of the gametes will have the dominant (R) alleles, and half will have the recessive (r) allele.

3. Write the alleles from parent 2 above the Punnett square.

For this heterozygous parent (Rr), half of the gametes will have the dominant (R) allele, and half will have the recessive (r) allele.

4. Fill the squares for parent 1. Fill each square with the allele from Parent 1 that lines up with the row.

R R

r R

5. Fill the squares for parent 2.

R R RR

r Rr

Rr

rr

Interpreting the results of a Punnett square

We now have the information for predicting the outcome of the cross. The genotypes in the four boxes of the Punnett square are each equally likely to occur among the offspring of this cross. We may now tabulate the results. Genotypes that resulted from this monohybrid cross (Rr x Rr) R r R r R RR

25%R RR

Rr

Rr

Homozygous dominant 50% R r Rr- Heterozygous

Phenotypes that resulted from this monohybrid cross (Rr x Rr)

R
x
75 % are round seeds 25 % are wrinkled seeds

rr

25% rr- Homozygous recessive

Monohybrid Cross Practice

In the following exercises, fill in the Punnett squares and state the genotypic and phenotypic ratios of the possible offspring that are a result of the cross. 1. Two fish meet at the coral reef, fall in love, and get married that same night. They decide to make babies right away. The mom fish has a big fluffy tail (TT) while the dad has a very boring flat tail (tt). The dad is worried that he will pass his ugly tail down to his kids. What is the chance that the first child will have a flat tail? T = fluffy tail t = boring tail

Genotypic Ratio: ______________________________ Phenotypic Ratio: _____________________________

SpongeBob is known for his big round eyes (R), which is dominant over an oval eye shape (r). If he is heterozygous for his round eyes shape and marries a woman with oval eye shape, what type of eyes might the kids have? A. List the genotypes for each: Heterozygous round eyes = __________________ Oval eyeballs = ________________________ B. Complete the punnett square to show the possibilities that would results if SpongeBob had children with an oval-eyed woman.

C. List the possible genotypes and phenotypes for their children. Genotypes: ______________________________________ Phenotypes: _____________________________________ D. What are the chances of a child with a round eye shape? ________ % E. What are the chances of a child with an oval eye shape? _______ %