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In a population of Drosophila melanogaster reared in the laboratory, the mean wing length is \(0.55 \mathrm{mm}\) and the range is 0.35 to \(0.65 .\) A geneticist selects a female with wings that are \(0.42 \mathrm{mm}\) in length and mates her with a male that has wings that are \(0.56 \mathrm{mm}\) in length. a. What is the expected wing length of their offspring if wing length has a narrow-sense heritability of \(1.0 ?\) b. What is the expected wing length of their offspring if wing length has a narrow-sense heritability of \(0.0 ?\)

Short Answer

Expert verified
a. 0.49 mm; b. 0.55 mm

Step by step solution

01

Understanding narrow-sense heritability

Narrow-sense heritability indicates the proportion of variance in a trait that is due to additive genetic factors. A heritability of 1.0 means that the offspring's traits are determined completely by the additive effects of the parents’ genes, whereas a heritability of 0.0 means they are determined entirely by environmental effects.
02

Calculate the average phenotype of the parents

To find the average phenotype of the parents, calculate the mean of the father's and mother's wing lengths. The mother's wings are 0.42 mm, and the father's wings are 0.56 mm. The average is computed as follows: \[ \text{Average Wing Length of Parents} = \frac{0.42 + 0.56}{2} \] Simplifying, we find:\[ \frac{0.42 + 0.56}{2} = \frac{0.98}{2} = 0.49 \text{ mm} \]
03

Calculate the expected offspring wing length for heritability of 1.0

With a heritability of 1.0, the offspring's expected trait is the exact average of the parents' traits due to purely genetic influences. Therefore, the expected wing length is:\[ 0.49 \text{ mm} \]
04

Calculate the expected offspring wing length for heritability of 0.0

With a heritability of 0.0, the offspring's trait is influenced entirely by the environment, and the trait will converge to the population mean. Therefore, since the mean wing length of the population is 0.55 mm, the expected offspring wing length is:\[ 0.55 \text{ mm} \]

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Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila melanogaster, commonly known as the fruit fly, is a small fly species that plays a pivotal role in genetic research. This species is favored in laboratory settings due to several practical traits:
  • They have a short life cycle, taking only about 10 days to develop from egg to adult.
  • They produce a large number of offspring, allowing for statistical analysis of genetic data.
  • Their genetic makeup is relatively simple yet remarkably similar to that of humans, which makes insights relevant to understanding human genetics.
  • They are inexpensive to maintain, further enhancing their utility in research environments.
These characteristics make Drosophila melanogaster ideal for studies involving inheritance patterns, phenotypic expressions, and various genetic factors. The fruit fly's vast contribution to genetics includes understanding mutations, mapping genes, and studying genetic interactions.
Wing Length
Wing length in Drosophila melanogaster is a significant quantitative trait often examined to understand genetic inheritance. Several factors influence wing length:
  • Genetic factors: Wing length can be inherited through genetic material passed from parents to offspring.
  • Environmental conditions: Factors such as temperature and nutrition during the developmental stages can also affect wing length.
In laboratory conditions, scientists can control many environmental variables, allowing them to focus on genetic contributions to traits like wing length. Analyzing wing length is a way to evaluate heritability – the extent to which genetic factors affect this trait. Researchers use wing length measurements in various experiments to explore the balance between genetic inheritance and environmental influence, which can provide insights into broader genetic concepts.
Additive Genetic Factors
Additive genetic factors refer to the individual contributions that alleles at different genes make to a phenotype. These factors are responsible for the resemblance between parents and offspring in traits like wing length. When discussing narrow-sense heritability, we focus on these additive effects because they predict how a trait will respond to selection. Here's how it works:
  • Each allele either increases or decreases wing length by a certain amount, depending on its nature.
  • These effects add up (hence "additive") to determine the overall genetic potential for a trait in the offspring.
  • In cases where narrow-sense heritability is 1.0, additive genetic factors completely determine the trait in question.
This concept is crucial in selective breeding programs and understanding evolutionary processes, as it helps predict how traits will be passed on through generations. By examining additive genetic factors, scientists can manipulate and predict changes in populations over time.

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