Question
Lots of feral cats have invaded our neighborhood, both males and females. A feral cat is a cat that lives outdoors and has had little or no human contact. One female cat has more toes than the usual five toes on her front paws like most cats. This condition is called polydactyl. Poly = many, dactyl = finger or toe. Therefore, polydactyl means many toed. The cat with more toes than usual gave birth to five cats. Another pregnant cat with the usual number of toes gave birth to five cats also. Other feral cats with the usual number of toes gave birth to kittens who all had the usual number of toes.
Mother with more toes - # kittens with usual # toes (3) - # kittens with more toes (2)
Mother #1 with usual # toes - # kittens with usual # toes (3) - # kittens with more toes (2)
Mother #2 with usual # toes - # kittens with usual # toes (4) - # kittens with more toes (0)
Using the information provided and your knowledge of genetics, draw a punnett square as a model to show a possible cross that could have result in a litter with 50% polydactyl kittens.
Mother with more toes - # kittens with usual # toes (3) - # kittens with more toes (2)
Mother #1 with usual # toes - # kittens with usual # toes (3) - # kittens with more toes (2)
Mother #2 with usual # toes - # kittens with usual # toes (4) - # kittens with more toes (0)
Using the information provided and your knowledge of genetics, draw a punnett square as a model to show a possible cross that could have result in a litter with 50% polydactyl kittens.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
To model the genetics of the polydactyl trait in cats, we need to represent the parental genotypes and their possible offspring using a Punnett square. Polydactyly in cats is typically considered a dominant trait, which means that only one copy of the allele (let's denote it as "P" for polydactyl) is required for a cat to express the trait. The normal number of toes is recessive (denote it as "p").
The cat with more toes could be either homozygous dominant (PP) or heterozygous (Pp). Since we want to achieve a result of a litter with 50% polydactyl kittens, we can assume one parent is heterozygous (Pp), and the other parent (presumably a normal-toed cat) is homozygous recessive (pp).
Let's set up our Punnett square.
### Parental Genotypes:
- Parent 1 (Polydactyl): Pp
- Parent 2 (Normal): pp
### Punnett Square:
| | p | p |
|---|---|---|
| P | Pp | Pp |
| p | pp | pp |
### Resulting Genotypes:
- **Pp** (Polydactyl): 2 squares (50%)
- **pp** (Normal): 2 squares (50%)
### Conclusion:
From this Punnett square, we can see that there is indeed a 50% chance of producing polydactyl kittens (Pp) and a 50% chance of producing normal-toed kittens (pp) if one parent is Pp and the other is pp. This genetic cross model explains how you could achieve a litter of kittens with a polydactyl trait ratio of 50%.
The cat with more toes could be either homozygous dominant (PP) or heterozygous (Pp). Since we want to achieve a result of a litter with 50% polydactyl kittens, we can assume one parent is heterozygous (Pp), and the other parent (presumably a normal-toed cat) is homozygous recessive (pp).
Let's set up our Punnett square.
### Parental Genotypes:
- Parent 1 (Polydactyl): Pp
- Parent 2 (Normal): pp
### Punnett Square:
| | p | p |
|---|---|---|
| P | Pp | Pp |
| p | pp | pp |
### Resulting Genotypes:
- **Pp** (Polydactyl): 2 squares (50%)
- **pp** (Normal): 2 squares (50%)
### Conclusion:
From this Punnett square, we can see that there is indeed a 50% chance of producing polydactyl kittens (Pp) and a 50% chance of producing normal-toed kittens (pp) if one parent is Pp and the other is pp. This genetic cross model explains how you could achieve a litter of kittens with a polydactyl trait ratio of 50%.