In cattle, coat color is controlled by codominant alleles. A red-coated cow (RR) is crossed with a white-coated bull (WW). What are the expected phenotypes of the offspring?

Question

A: All red coat

B: All white coat

C: All pink coat

D: Red and white coat

Answer 1

In this case, coat color in cattle is controlled by codominant alleles, meaning that both alleles contribute to the phenotype of the offspring when combined. The red-coated cow has the genotype RR and the white-coated bull has the genotype WW.

When these two are crossed, the possible genotype of the offspring will be RW. Since the alleles are codominant, the phenotype of the RW offspring will be a mixture of both parental colors.

Therefore, the expected phenotype of the offspring will be:

C: All pink coat