Given the inheritance pattern of coat color in rats described in Problem 17, predict the genotype and phenotype of the parents who produced the following offspring: 27/64 gray: 16/64 albino: 9/64 yellow: 9/64 black: 3/64 cream

Key Concepts

Mendelian Inheritance

Mendelian inheritance refers to the principles of heredity established by Gregor Mendel, which include the concepts of dominant and recessive alleles. In this context, understanding how traits are passed from parents to offspring through alleles is crucial for predicting genotypes and phenotypes based on observed ratios.

Phenotypic Ratios

Phenotypic ratios represent the relative frequencies of different phenotypes in the offspring resulting from a genetic cross. In this case, the given ratios of gray, albino, yellow, black, and cream coat colors provide essential clues to deduce the genotypes of the parent rats based on the expected outcomes of their genetic combinations.

Punnett Square

A Punnett square is a diagram used to predict the genetic makeup of offspring from a cross between two parents. By mapping out the possible allele combinations from each parent, it helps visualize how different genotypes can lead to specific phenotypes, which is vital for solving the inheritance pattern in the given problem.