Exemplar Problems

Question:

Differentiate between the following:

(a) Dominance and Recessive:

(b) Homozygous and Heterozygous:

(c) Monohybrid and Dihybrid:

Answer:

(a) Dominance refers to the relationship between alleles of a gene, where one allele (dominant) masks the expression of the other (recessive) in the heterozygous condition.

(b) Homozygous refers to a genotype where an individual carries two identical alleles for a specific gene (e.g., BB or bb). Heterozygous refers to a genotype where an individual carries two different alleles for a specific gene (e.g., Bb).

(c) Monohybrid refers to a genetic cross involving the study of a single trait (e.g., seed color). Dihybrid refers to a genetic cross involving the study of two different traits simultaneously (e.g., seed color and plant height).