Asked in Premeth past paper pool — BiologyModerate

An example of epistasis is:

Correct answer: B. Gene E hides the effect of coat colour gene in dogs

  • A. Human height is controlled by 180 genes
  • B. Gene E hides the effect of coat colour gene in dogs
  • C. Human blood groups are determined by three alleles
  • D. The gene for flower colour in pea plants also affects the seed coat colour

Explanation

Epistasis occurs when the effects of one gene are modified or masked by one or several other genes. In the correct example, 'gene E hides the effect of coat colour gene in dogs,' gene E suppresses or alters the expression of another gene responsible for coat colour, exemplifying epistasis. Option A refers to polygenic inheritance, where multiple genes affect a single trait, such as height. Option C describes the concept of multiple alleles in determining traits like blood type, and Option D illustrates pleiotropy, where one gene influences multiple phenotypic traits.

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