In: Biology
8. A gene for sweat gland production is found on the X chromosome. If a man who lacks sweat glands marries a woman who has normal sweat glands, what will be the phenotype of their children?
A. All of the boys will lack sweat glands.
B. All of the girls will lack sweat glands.
C. The girls will have sweat glands in some areas, but lack sweat glands in others.
D. All of the boys will have sweat glands.
E. All the boys will have sweat glands, and the girls will have sweat glands in some areas but not others.
The answer is E but I'd like to know why.
All the boys will have sweat glands, and the girls will have sweat glands in some areas but not others - because the said condition follows an X linked inheritance pattern. Male offsprings inherit their X chromosomes only from their female parent, and the Y chromosome from their male parent. So, in this case, because the father has the condition on his X chromosome, none of his sons will inherit the condition and all will have sweat glands.
Females have XX chromosomes and they inherit one X chromosome from their female parent and one from their male parent. Hence, in this case, the girls will inherit one normal allele form mother and one abnormal allele from their father. Since, it is not mentioned whether the condition follows a X-linked recessive or X linked dominant pattern, we can assume that the alleles are codominant and hence, the girls will have sweat glands in some areas but absent in some areas.