Suppose that out of 1000 offspring’s in the generation of a dithered cross, 748 are tall and hairy, 6 are tall and smooth, 4 are short and hairy and 242 are short and smooth. what is the explanation for this kind of ratio ?

Question

Accepted Answer

Linkage and crossing over. The observed ratio (748:6:4:242) deviates significantly from the expected 9:3:3:1 Mendelian ratio for independent assortment. The high frequency of parental phenotypes (tall/hairy and short/smooth) and low frequency of recombinant phenotypes (tall/smooth and short/hairy) indicates that the genes are linked on the same chromosome, with crossing over producing the rare recombinants.