Multiple Alleles, Incomplete Dominance, and Codominance (Article) - Khan Academy PDF

3/1/2018 Multiple alleles, incomplete dominance, and codominance (article) | Khan Academy
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SCIENCE · BIOLOGY · CLASSICAL AND MOLECULAR

GENETICS · VAR IATIONS ON MEND ELIAN GENETICS
Multiple alleles, incomplete

dominance,
and codominance
In the real world, genes often come in many versions
(alleles). Alleles aren't always fully dominant or recessive to
one another, but may instead display codominance or
incomplete dominance.
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Introduction
Gregor Mendel knew how to keep things simple. In
Mendel's work on pea plants, each gene came in
just two different versions, or alleles, and these
alleles had a nice, clear-cut dominance relationship
(with the dominant allele fully overriding the
recessive allele to determine the plant's
appearance).
Today, we know that not all alleles behave quite as

straightforwardly as in Mendel’s experiments. For
example, in real life:
Allele pairs may have a variety of dominance

relationships (that is, one allele of the pair may
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/classical-genetics/variations-on-mendelian-genetics/a/multiple-alleles-incomplete-dominance-and-codominance 1/13
not completely “hide” the other in the

heterozygote).
There are often many different alleles of a gene

in a population.
In these cases, an organism's genotype, or set of

alleles, still determines its phenotype, or observable
features. However, a variety of alleles may interact
with one another in different ways to specify
phenotype.
As a side note, we're probably lucky that Mendel's

pea genes didn't show these complexities. If they
had, it’s possible that Mendel would not have
understood his results, and wouldn't have figured
out the core principles of inheritance—which are
key in helping us understand the special cases!
Incomplete dominance
Mendel’s results were groundbreaking partly
because they contradicted the (then-popular) idea
that parents' traits were permanently blended in
their offspring. In some cases, however, the
phenotype of a heterozygous organism can actually
be a blend between the phenotypes of its
homozygous parents.
For example, in the snapdragon, Antirrhinum majus,

a cross between a homozygous white-flowered
plant (C W C W ) and a homozygous red-flowered

plant (C R C R ) will produce offspring with pink
flowers (C R C W ). This type of relationship between
alleles, with a heterozygote phenotype intermediate
between the two homozygote phenotypes, is called
We can still use Mendel's model to predict the

results of crosses for alleles that show incomplete
dominance. For example, self-fertilization of a pink
plant would produce a genotype ratio of 1 C R C R : 2
C R C W : 1 C W C W and a phenotype ratio of 1 : 2 : 1
red:pink:white. Alleles are still inherited according to
Mendel's basic rules, even when they show
Codominance
Closely related to incomplete dominance is
codominance, in which both alleles are
simultaneously expressed in the heterozygote.
We can see an example of codominance in the MN

blood groups of humans (less famous than the ABO
blood groups, but still important!). A person's MN
blood type is determined by his or her alleles of a
certain gene. An LM allele specifies production of
an M marker displayed on the surface of red blood
cells, while an LN allele specifies production of a
slighly different N marker.
Homozygotes (LM LM and LN LN ) have only M or

an N markers, respectively, on the surface of their
red blood cells. However, heterozygotes (LM LN )
have both types of markers in equal numbers on the
cell surface.
As for incomplete dominance, we can still use

Mendel's rules to predict inheritance of codominant
alleles. For example, if two people with LM LN
genotypes had children, we would expect to see M,
MN, and N blood types and LM LM , LM LN , and
LN LN genotypes in their children in a 1 : 2 : 1 ratio
(if they had enough children for us to determine
ratios accurately!)
Multiple alleles
Mendel's work suggested that just two alleles
existed for each gene. Today, we know that's not
always, or even usually, the case! Although
individual humans (and all diploid organisms) can
only have two alleles for a given gene, multiple
alleles may exist in a population level, and different

individuals in the population may have different
pairs of these alleles.
As an example, let’s consider a gene that specifies

coat color in rabbits, called the C gene. The C gene
comes in four common alleles: C , cch , ch , and c:
A CC rabbit has black or brown fur

A cch cch rabbit has chinchilla coloration (grayish
fur).
A ch ch rabbit has Himalayan (color-point)
patterning, with a white body and dark ears,
face, feet, and tail
A cc rabbit is albino, with a pure white coat.
Image credit: "Characteristics and traits: Figure 5," by OpenStax College,

Biology (CC BY 3.0).
Multiple alleles makes for many possible dominance

relationships. In this case, the black C allele is
completely dominant to all the others; the chinchilla
cch allele is incompletely dominant to the Himalayan
ch and albino c alleles; and the Himalayan ch allele is

completely dominant to the albino c allele.
Rabbit breeders figured out these relationships by

crossing different rabbits of different genotypes and
observing the phenotypes of the heterozygous kits
(baby bunnies).
[How do these alleles change the rabbit's color?]
[Attribution and references]
Ask a question...
BIOLOGY CLASSICAL AND

MOLECULAR GENETICS
Questions Tips & Thanks Top Recent
Variations on Mendelian
genetics
In the second section on multiple alleles, is a dominance
hierarchy always linear, as in A > B > C (where > represents
Worked example: dominant to)? Or is is possible for A>B, B>C, and C>A, in a
Punnett squares circular relationship? If there were more than 3 alleles, would
other types on nonlinear dominance relationships be
Variations on Mendel's possible too? Thanks for your help!
laws (overview)
6 votes • Comment • Flag 2 years ago by lisahoeg
Multiple alleles,
incomplete dominance,
and codominance A dominance hierarchy does not always have to be
linear. However, remember that each child can only
Pleiotropy and lethal inherit 2 alleles of a given gene from its parents out of
alleles the pool of possible alleles of that gene.
Polygenic inheritance So, for example, if we have three alleles for flower
and environmental colour - R (red), Y (yellow) and B (blue), it's possible for
effects the dominance to be R > Y; Y > B; B > R. A child could
have genotypes of [RY], [RB] and [YB], producing
Practice: Non-Mendelian phenotypes of red, blue and yellow flowers
genetics respectively. Because the '… (more)
8 votes • 1 comment • Flag
Next tutorial 2 years ago by rosafiarose
Chromosomal basis of g…
I am lost.. what is dominant and recessive gene?
Like how does this works..? I really want to be a left brain but
it feels i am a right brain T^T
Did this article help you?
4 votes • Comment • Flag about a year ago by carib11
Yes
No
From what I understand, the dominant allele is the one
that is expressed. Also, the dominant allele is always
represented by capitol or upper case letters. A
recessive allele on the other hand, will only be
expressed if there is no dominant allele present for its
specific trait. Recessive alleles are lower case letters.
Example:
A fog's alleles for color are R (red, dominant) and r
(orange, recessive). We have three frogs with three
different genotypes:
Frog #1 - RR
Frog #2 - Rr
Frog #3 - rr
… (more)
7 votes • 1 comment • Flag
about a year ago by Noah Cardoza
can alleles locate on diferent locus?

3 votes • Comment • Flag
2 years ago by muhammad.aslam
It depends on what you mean by alleles. If you mean

homozygous, then no, they must be in the same area.
{This may or may not be true, it's just information that I
have learned from schooling and information on here.}
6 votes • 2 comments • Flag
2 years ago by Jennivieve (J)
Show all 2 answers • Answer this question
I'm confused on why there are some "exponents" on the

alleles. For ex, c^ch c^ch
what does that exactly mean?
about a year ago by starnoela1117
Those mean that they are alterations of a certain allele.

For example, C is going to be dominant over any
alterations of c. In most cases, the C is usually the most
dominant. Just know that the superscripts are just
distinguishing the multiple alleles. c ^ ch means that it
isn't c, but another allele.
12 months ago by Austin
isnt codominance the same as incomplete dominance in that

case if both alleles can be expressed?
2 votes • Comment • Flag 2 years ago by Zaeen Iqbal
Not really.
In codominance, both alleles are completely
expressed. If you crossed a red flower with a white one
and the alleles were codominant, you might get flowers
that are red and white in patches. If the alleles were
incompletely dominant, the flowers would be pink
because the traits blend.
2 years ago by Esther Dickey
What is multiple allele is one sentence that is easy to

understand?
1 vote • 3 comments • Flag
about a year ago by Kashish
Multiple Alleles are three or more possible alleles for

one individual trait.
about a year ago by TaylorStone-Amandi
Show all 2 answers • Answer this question
Need assistance on this question:

In dogs rough hair (H) is dominant to smooth hair (h). A
heterozygous rough-haired dog is mated with a smooth-
haired dog. Represent a genetic cross to show the
phenotype ratio of the puppies
2 years ago by amomokgatlha
You would need to do a punnent square.

So one parent is Hh (heterozygous) and the other is hh
(homozygous recessive)
(H - h X h - h) would give you ... (I am doing the foil
method like in math because I cant show a punnent

square here)
Results:
Hh, hh, Hh, and hh. So you would have 50%-50% with
short smooth vs rough hair
I hope that made sense.. if not google punnent square
and applying the Hs to the letter they use in the
example (often A)
3 votes • Comment • Flag 2 years ago by Emily
in case of pea plant tall is the dominant gene and dwarf is

the recessive gene. does that hold good for other
organisms as well? is dwarf always recessive gene and cant
it be dominant in the presence of tall gene?
about a year ago by Gayathri sudarsan
What's dominant and recessive can change between

organisms because species tend not to be able to
breed with other species, so the gene pool for a
species tends to be isolated to just that species.
1 vote • Comment • Flag
about a year ago by City Face
What is the difference between incomplete dominance and

co-dominance?
1 vote • Comment • Flag about a year ago by Yuvali
Incomplete dominence leads to blending of

phenotypes ie when there are two dominant alleles so
like red+white cud give pink

But codominance means when there are two dominant
alleles both are expressed like in AB blood group both
the A allele and B allele are expressed
about a year ago by Severus Snape
what is the relation between allels, phenotypes and

incomplete dominance?
1 vote • Comment • Flag
17 days ago by ahlbrechtlauren
Show more comments
Variations on Mendel's laws (overview)

Pleiotropy and lethal alleles
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SCIENCE · BIOLOGY · CLASSICAL AND MOLECULAR

Multiple alleles, incomplete

Google Classroom Facebook

Today, we know that not all alleles behave quite as

Allele pairs may have a variety of dominance

not completely “hide” the other in the

There are often many diﬀerent alleles of a gene

In these cases, an organism's genotype, or set of

As a side note, we're probably lucky that Mendel's

For example, in the snapdragon, Antirrhinum majus,

plant (C W C W ) and a homozygous red-ﬂowered

We can still use Mendel's model to predict the

We can see an example of codominance in the MN

Homozygotes (LM LM and LN LN ) have only M or

As for incomplete dominance, we can still use

alleles may exist in a population level, and diﬀerent

As an example, let’s consider a gene that speciﬁes

A CC rabbit has black or brown fur

Image credit: "Characteristics and traits: Figure 5," by OpenStax College,

Multiple alleles makes for many possible dominance

ch and albino c alleles; and the Himalayan ch allele is

Rabbit breeders ﬁgured out these relationships by

[How do these alleles change the rabbit's color?]

[Attribution and references]

BIOLOGY CLASSICAL AND

I am lost.. what is dominant and recessive gene?

can alleles locate on diferent locus?

It depends on what you mean by alleles. If you mean

Show all 2 answers • Answer this question

I'm confused on why there are some "exponents" on the

Those mean that they are alterations of a certain allele.

isnt codominance the same as incomplete dominance in that

What is multiple allele is one sentence that is easy to

Multiple Alleles are three or more possible alleles for

Show all 2 answers • Answer this question

Need assistance on this question:

You would need to do a punnent square.

method like in math because I cant show a punnent

in case of pea plant tall is the dominant gene and dwarf is

What's dominant and recessive can change between

What is the diﬀerence between incomplete dominance and

Incomplete dominence leads to blending of

like red+white cud give pink

what is the relation between allels, phenotypes and

Show more comments

Variations on Mendel's laws (overview)

Biology is brought to you with support from the

a free, world-class News Careers Help center

education to anyone, Impact Internships Support community

anywhere. Our team Share your story

Our interns Press

iOS app Math by subject

Android app Math by grade

Arts & humanities

Economics & ﬁnance

© 2018 Khan Academy Terms of use Privacy notice

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