In this experiment we are investigating the strength of the ratios discovered by Gregor Mendel in both the monohybrid and dihybrid cross. The ability to test these ratios stems from the use of Mendel’s law of segregation which states that during meiosis allele pairs will separate in gametes so one of each allele is present in a gamete. (Garey, et al,pg 8-13) These single alleles are then combined with the other parental gamete forming a new somatic cell. Another important law is the law of independent assortment which means that different gene pairs will separate independently of each other allowing two traits to be monitored at once.With these laws, ratios can be assigned to both the Monohybrid, a cross of only one gene, and a dihybrid cross, a cross of two independent genes, which will result in ratios for both phenotype and genotype. The phenotypic ratio for a standard F1 monohybrid cross is 1:2:1 while a dihybrid cross has a phenotypic ratio of 9:3:3:1.
The genotypic ratio of for a monohybrid cross though is 3:1 as the dominant allele will generally over power the recessive allele. The only cases where this doesn't happen is when the alleles show codominance and a blending effect takes place.The use of Drosophila melanogaster is very useful when trying to observe many genetic properties, due to the ability to distinguish between each phenotype. This is due to the clear sex linked genes that are easily expressed and don't result in sterile or deceased offspring and the genes that are located on different chromosomes so that no crossing over occurs. Also the time between generations is exceptionally short allowing for a generation of flies to be produced almost every week. These flies can be easily secured and taken care of in a lab environment making them perfect for genetic studies.
From this we can hypothesize that the ratio’s set up by Mandel will be shown in the monohybrid cross, the dihybrid cross and the sex linked cross. To test the ratios set up by Mendel’s laws five different crosses of flies from the F1 generation will be taken. Each F1 generation will have had homozygous parents which should result in all offspring having the same heterozygous genotype. Each cross is predicted to have their own outcome.Table 3 represents the dihybrid cross of both the Apterous and Sepia alleles. With each parent having a recessive Apterous wing trait (Ap) and a dominant normal wing trait (Ap+).
The other set of alleles is the recessive Sepia eye color (Se) and the dominant wild type red eye color (Se+). This cross is predicted to follow the 9:3:3:1 Dihybrid ratios.To be sure that results are not due to random chance a statistical chi-square test is preformed. Which will test the observed against the expected and be able to produce a percentage chance of the results being by random chance.Materials and Methods The first thing done before the 5 groups of flies could be placed into new vials, to prevent F1 generation flies to mate with the F2 generation, a fly food mixture was made. To make this mixture 3 scoops of dry fly food was placed into an aqueous solution until the mixture had a thick consistency.
This food was then split between 10 vials each vial having approximately an inch of food. To increase maximum yield of offspring 3-5 granules of yeast where placed on the top layer of the food so that the yeast could break down the sugars in the food into essential vitamins for the flies to consume.(Tatum, 193-197) A piece of plastic netting was then folded and placed into vial to allow the flies a place to stay out of the food.The flies where exposed to a fly napping agent that put the flies into a paralysis or napping stage allowing them to be sorted by sex. To increase the sample size of our crosses 10 males and 10 females where split between two vials so that each vial had 5 males and 5 females resulting in two vials of the same allele cross.
These flies where then left to produce the F2 generation. This resulting F2 generation was the generation that was assessed to check for the proper mendelian ratios.
