Lecture 5
Gene Interaction
By the end of this lecture,
students should be able to:
Differentiate Intra-allelic and inter-allelic interactions
Describe comb pattern in fowls
Differentiate:
Dominant epistasis
Recessive epistasis
Describe Complementary gene interaction
Describe Pleiotropy
What is the difference between a locus
and an allele?
A locus is a particular location or a marker on a chromosome.
Alleles differ in that they refer to a particular sequence of DNA
at a given locus. The distinction from loci is that multiple alleles
can exist for the same locus.
What is Gene Interaction?
With the help of lot of experiments it was found that
most of the characters of living organisms are
controlled / influenced / governed by a collaboration
of several different genes.
This condition where a single character is governed by
two or more genes and every gene affect the
expression of other genes involved (means these
genes affect each others expression) is known as
gene interaction.
In simple way we could say that, in gene interaction,
expression of one gene depends on expression
(presence or absence) of another gene.
Intra-allelic and inter-allelic
interactions
Intra-allelic – Interaction between alleles of the same
gene.
Eg: complete dominant, co-dominant, incomplete
dominant
Inter-allelic – Interaction between alleles of 2 or more
different genes.
Eg: Epistasis
EPISTASIS
Epistasis
An inheritance pattern in which the alleles of one
gene mask or hide the phenotypic effects of the
alleles of a different gene
Expression of one gene is reliant on another gene
One gene’s expression modifies/ suppresses
another gene
The gene that do the masking – epistatic gene
The gene that is masked – hypostatic gene
Epistatic gene can be dominant or recessive in its
effect.
Comb patterns in fowls
WT Rose R_pp
Pea rrP_
Walnut R_P_
Single rrpp
R is dominant to r
P is dominant to p
RP is codominant
(walnut)
rrpp single comb
The type of comb in chicken is determined by 2 genes, R and P,
and the interaction between these 2 genes resulted in 4 distinct
phenotypes
Rose R_pp
Pea rrP_
Walnut R_P_
Single rrpp
• R is dominant to r
• P is dominant to p
• RP is codominant (walnut)
• rrpp single comb
Solve this ……
What is the outcome of the cross
between 2 chickens with walnut-
type comb, both having RrPp
genotype?
RrPp (walnut) x RrPp (walnut)
RP Rp rP rp
RP RRPP RRPp RrPP RrPp
walnut walnut walnut walnut
Rp RRPp RRpp RrPp Rrpp
walnut rose walnut rose
rP RrPP RrPp rrPP rrPp
walnut walnut pea pea
rp RrPp Rrpp rrPp rrpp
walnut rose pea single
Dominant Epistasis
Caused by the dominant allele of one gene,
masking the action of either allele of the other
gene.
Ratio of F2 would be 12:3:1 instead of 9:3:3:1
Example: Summer Squash. Complete dominance
at both gene pairs, but one gene, when dominant,
epistatic to the other.
In summer squash, fruit color maybe white, yellow or
green.
White fruits are produced by a dominant epistatic allele
‘A’. At another locus ‘B’, for yellow fruits (B) is
dominant to allele ‘b’ for green fruits.
Gene pair A: White dominant to colour 12/16 white
Gene pair ‘B’ – Yellow dominant to green 3/16 yellow
Green – 1/16 both recessive aabb
Dominant white hides the effect of yellow or green.
Complementary Gene Interaction
Each genotypic class may not always dictate a unique
phenotype.
A pair of genes can work together to create a specific
phenotype. This is known as complementary gene
interaction.
2 or more genotypic classes may display an identical
phenotype.
In this case, a dominant allele must be present in both
genes in order for a specific phenotype to be
expressed. Example would be seen in a cross between 2
pure-breed white-flowered pea plants.
Example
Pleiotropy
The effect of a single gene on more than one
characteristics.
Eg: A classic example of pleiotropy is the human
disease phenylketonuria (PKU). This disease can
cause mental retardation and
reduced hair and skin pigmentation, and can be caused
by any of a large number of mutations in a single gene
that codes for the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase,
which converts the amino
acid phenylalanine to tyrosine, another amino acid.
conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine is reduced or
ceases entirely. Unconverted phenylalanine
concentrates in the bloodstream and can rise to levels
that are toxic to the developing nervous system of
newborn and infant children and which can cause
effects such as mental retardation and abnormal gait
and posture.
Because tyrosine is used by the body to make melanin
(an important component of the pigment found in
hair and skin) the failure to convert normal levels of
phenylalanine to tyrosine results in less pigmentation
being produced causing the fair hair and skin typically
associated with phenylketonuria.
By excluding phenylalanine from the diet until adulthood,
it is possible to avoid injury to the developing nervous
system, neutralizing the particular effects that can result
from toxic levels of phenylalanine, without having any
effect on the low pigmentation production caused by the
reduced levels of tyrosine.
Phenylketonuria is inherited in an autosomal recessive
fashion. This means that each parent has at least one
mutated allele of the gene for PAH, and the child
inherits two mutated alleles of the gene, one from
each parent.
Other pleiotropic diseases
Sickle cell anemia
Marfan syndrome
