Chapter 4, Problem 50P

In marsupials like the opposum or kangaroo, X inactivation selectively inactivates the paternal X chromosome.

a.	Predict the possible coat colors of the progeny of both sexes if a female marsupial homozygous for a mutant allele of an X-linked coat color gene was mated with a male hemizygous for the alternative wild-type alleles of this gene.
b.	Predict the possible coat colors of progeny of both sexes if a male marsupial hemizygous for an allele of an X-linked coat color gene was mated with a female homozygous for the alternative wild-type allele of this gene.
c.	Why are the terms recessive and dominant not useful in describing the alleles of X-linked coat color genes in marsupials?
d.	Why would marsupials heterozygous for two alleles of an X-linked coat color gene not have patches of fur of two different colors as did the tortoiseshell cats described in the previous problem?