A colour blind male (XcY) marries a carrier female (XCXc). Possible genotype of daughters will be______?
a. XcXc only
b. XCXC only
c. XCXC and XcXc
d. XCXc and XcXc
Hint: Color blindness is defined as the inability to perceive colors correctly. It is an X-linked or sex-linked recessive disorder, meaning that the disease manifests when both alleles are recessive (homozygous recessive alleles) on the X chromosome in the same cell. This condition is commonly referred to as a congenital color vision deficiency.
Complete answer: According to Mendel’s laws of inheritance, specifically the law of segregation and the law of independent assortment, allele combinations occur as follows: if a color-blind male (XcY) mates with a heterozygous female carrier (XCXc), then the possible alleles of the offspring will be: Xc, Y, XC, Xc
The potential combinations are: XcXC, XcXc, YXC, YXc
From these combinations, the daughter genotypes can be: XcXC and XcXc
Therefore, there is a 50% chance that the daughter will be color blind, as the genotype required for color blindness is XcXc. An XCXc daughter will be a carrier of the condition; she can pass on the trait but will not be affected by it herself. The probability ratio for the daughter to inherit the disease is 2:1.
Thus, the correct answer is option (D).
Note:
Color blindness is a condition where a person’s ability to distinguish between colors is reduced. Complete color blindness is known as achromatopsia. The Ishihara color test is a common diagnostic tool for detecting color vision deficiency, which affects about 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women.