Chapter 11, Problem 11A

Summary Introduction

To replace:

The underlined term with correct vocabulary terminthe given sentence

Introduction:

Genetic disorders result from inheritance of traits which are either dominant or recessive. The basic patterns of human inheritance follow Mendel’s law of inheritance but there are some complex inheritance of traits that do not follow inheritance pattern described by Mendel.

Answer to Problem 11A

A characteristic that has more than one pair of possible trait is said to be a polygenic trait.

Explanation of Solution

Some phenotypic traits are due to interaction of multiple pairs of genes. Such traits are called polygenic traits. Examples are traits like skin color, eye color, hair color, height and finger print pattern. A number of intermediate phenotypes result due to multiple pairs of genes than only extreme phenotypes.

Epistasis is an interaction produced due to one allele hiding the effects of another allele. The coat color in Labrador retrievers is due to interaction of two genes each with two alleles.

Hence the correct word in the given sentence is polygenic traitand not epistasis.