Question

Ms. H has two cats. One is heterozygous for brown color (dominant) and one is gray (recessive). Fur color in cats is completely dominant. If she decides to cross her two cats, what is the chance that she will end up with a gray kitten? (Using B/b, show the punnett square, genotypes, and phenotypes of the offspring in order to answer the question.)

Answer 1

Sure! To solve this problem, we need to use a Punnett square to determine the possible genotypes and phenotypes of the offspring.

First, let's define the genotypes:

- Brown color (dominant): B

- Gray color (recessive): b

Now, let’s determine the genotypes of Ms. H's cats:

- Cat 1 (heterozygous for brown color): Bb

- Cat 2 (gray, meaning it must be homozygous recessive): bb

Now, we can construct the Punnett square:

B b

|------------------

B | BB | Bb |

|------------------

b | bB | bb |

|------------------

From this Punnett square, we can see that:

- 50% of the offspring will be brown (Bb)

- 50% of the offspring will be gray (bb)

So, there is a 50% chance that Ms. H will end up with a gray kitten.

Answer 2

Let's use the letters B for brown (dominant) and b for gray (recessive). The heterozygous cat's genotype is Bb (brown), and the gray cat's genotype is bb.

The Punnett square for crossing these two cats would look like this:

   | B | b |

--------------

B | BB | Bb |

b | Bb | bb |

Here, each cell represents a possible genotype of the offspring based on the combination of the parent genotypes.

Now, let's analyze the possible outcomes:

BB: This genotype will result in a brown cat.

Bb: This genotype will also result in a brown cat.

bb: This genotype will result in a gray cat.

So, out of the four possible combinations, only one (bb) leads to a gray cat. Therefore, there is a 1 in 4 chance (25%) that Ms. H will end up with a gray kitten when crossing her two cats.