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Lesson Four Sex Linkage

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Adele P.
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10 views

Lesson Four Sex Linkage

Uploaded by

Adele P.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Punnett Square Walkthrough Worksheet Sex

Linkage
Another pattern of inheritance that Punnett squares can demonstrate is sex linkage. Most
humans have 46 chromosomes which is 23 pairs of two chromosomes, there are some
genetic conditions where individuals may have an extra or one less chromosome. The final
pair is the sex chromosomes which determine if an individual is male or female, we call
these chromosomes X and Y. Females have two Xs and males have one X and one Y Because
females only have Xs, they can only pass the X chromosome to their offspring. Males have
one of each chromosome so they can pass either an X or a Y. We can use a Punnett square
to see the possibility of each sex.

X Y
Key:
X XX XY X- X chromosome
Y- Y chromosome

X XX XY

This means that there is a 50% chance of producing male offspring and a 50% chance
of producing female offspring. Sex-linked conditions are alleles that are on the sex
chromosomes. As the Y chromosome is smaller this means that it doesn’t hold an alternate
allele for some traits.

X Y X X

Male Female

For sex-linked traits if a recessive allele is present on a male X chromosome there is no


chance of a dominant allele overpowering it and therefore males are more likely to have a
recessive condition. Red-green colour blindness is a recessive sex-linked condition, where
the gene is carried on the X chromosome. Let’s look at an example:

A male and female wish to have a child. Neither are colour blind, however, the female’s
father is. We know that red-green colour blindness is carried on the X chromosome, this
means that the man cannot have the allele for this condition, as he is not colour blind and
does not have a second X chromosome. His genotype would be represented as XBY. The
woman must have at least one dominant allele (without colour blindness) but as her father
is colour blind, he must pass this recessive trait to her. Her genotype would be represented
by XBXb. This is demonstrated in the Punnett square on the next page.

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Punnett Square Walkthrough Worksheet Sex Linkage

XB Y
Key:
XB X BX B X BY XB- No colour blindness
Xb- Colour blindness

Xb X BX b X bY

Notice how the Y doesn’t have another letter with it? This is because there is no allele linked
to it. When looking at genotypes, we can also consider the possibility of the trait occurring in
each sex. In the example above we can see that in female offspring, there is a 50% chance of
homozygous dominant and 50% heterozygous alleles. In the male offspring, as there is only
one allele with the trait, we say that there is a 50% chance that the male will have colour
blindness and 50% chance that they will not.

Questions
1. Haemophilia is a condition in which the blood does not clot as it should. Haemophilia
is a recessive sex-linked condition. Annie and her husband Fred have normal blood
clotting. They have three children: James who has normal blood clotting, Adam who has
haemophilia and a daughter Jessie with normal blood clotting. What are the genotypes
for each family member? Create a Punnett square using H for normal blood clotting
and h for haemophilia.

Family Member Genotype

Annie

Fred

James

Adam

Jessie

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Punnett Square Walkthrough Worksheet Sex Linkage

2. Fragile X is a recessive sex-linked condition that causes intellectual difficulties and


affects physical characteristics. Beth has a brother with Fragile X but her husband Jim
does not and has no family history of the condition. They want to have a child but
decide to see a genetic counsellor. What are the chances of them having a child with
Fragile X? Hint: think about Beth’s family history when considering her genotype. Create
a Punnett square. Use XF for without Fragile X and Xf for with Fragile X.

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