If codominance is possible, are corecessive traits possible as well?

Good question, there seems to be a lot of discussion about this. The answer is no, there's nothing called co-recessive. In reality, being dominant or recessive is _relative_. An allele may be recessive to one allele but dominant to another. Which means if one particular locus can hold three alleles, say K k1 and k2, where K is dominant to both k1 and k2. Suppose a person has alleles k1 and k2, they can show co-dominance, incomplete dominance or complete dominance. It depends on the extent of dominance against each other. As this person only has k1 and k2, we are comparing which one is more dominant, rather that comparing them against K.

Will recessive traits eventually disappear from the population, or at least become less common?

I think it would depend on whether or not the recessive traits jeopardized an organism's safety. For example, if a recessive trait for a rabbit was bright white fur compared to a muted brown, and the rabbit's habitat was in a jungle or swamp, than the rabbit's with the recessive traits would be easier to target by predators, and therefore the recessive trait would be less likely to be passed on through each generation. The recessive trait would be very hard to get out of a large population compared to a smaller one, and it depends on if the recessive trait effects the animal's ability to adapt and avoid danger. For this reason, most recessive traits in humans will not eventually disappear, because even though the recessive trait is harder to pass down; there are so many humans (around 7.8 billion) that humans with common recessive traits will never be fully extinct. And since humans are the ultimate (apex) predator, people with common recessive traits face no real danger because of the recessive trait they may have. An only exception is if the recessive trait causes some kind of cancer, or other highly dangerous medical condition. It is possible for recessive traits to become less common, but with the human population growing so much, it is hard to predict the trend that recessive traits will take. However; like I noted before, most animals face a different playing field in their natural habitat than humans. So it is possible that recessive traits would become less common to the point of extinction in smaller animal populations.

In this article, I noticed that certain alleles were expressed with a superscript. When is a superscript used? Is it when there are multiple alleles?

Yes, I believe a subscript is used when there are multiple types of alleles at play. They are to distinguish the types of alleles that are being passed down through a generation.

Is it normal to look like you have Marfan Syndrome but not actually have it?

People are born with Marfan syndrome but they may not notice any features until later in life and some of these features can appear at any age. Some people have many characteristics at birth or as young children. Other people develop aortic enlargement, as teens or even as adults.

So basically pigmentation really depends on the parents? Just how flowers or other living things rely on their developers as well?

I think so for the most part, though your skin could change color from environmental factors such as sunlight or getting a tattoo.

the whole rabbit thing does not make sense to me like what does Cch mean?

Cch stands for a syndrome called Congenital central hypoventilation

Main content

Course: High school biology > Unit 5

Lesson 2: Non-Mendelian inheritance

Non-Mendelian inheritance review

Google Classroom

Key terms

Term	Meaning
Incomplete dominance	Pattern of heredity in which one allele is not completely dominant over another
Codominance	Pattern of heredity in which both alleles are simultaneously expressed in the heterozygote
Multiple alleles	A gene that is controlled by more than two alleles
Pleiotropy	When one gene affects multiple characteristics
Lethal allele	Allele that results in the death of an individual
Polygenic trait	Traits that are controlled by multiple genes

Variations involving single genes

Some of the variations on Mendel’s rules involve single genes.

Incomplete dominance. Two alleles may produce an intermediate phenotype when both are present, rather than one fully determining the phenotype.
Diagram of a cross between $C^{W} C^{W}$ ‍ (red) and $C^{R} C^{R}$ ‍ (white) snapdragon plants. The F1 plants are pink and of genotype $C^{R} C^{W}$ ‍.
An example of this is the snapdragon plant. A cross between a homozygous white-flowered plant ( $C^{W} C^{W}$ ‍) and a homozygous red-flowered plant ( $C^{R} C^{R}$ ‍) will produce offspring with pink flowers ( $C^{R} C^{W}$ ‍).
Codominance. Two alleles may be simultaneously expressed when both are present, rather than one fully determining the phenotype.

In some varieties of chickens, the allele for black feathers is codominant with the allele for white feathers. A cross between a black chicken and a white chicken will result in chicken with both black and white feathers.

Multiple alleles. Mendel studied just two alleles of his pea genes, but real populations often have multiple alleles of a given gene.
Allelic series of the color gene C in rabbits.
A $C C$ ‍ rabbit has black fur.
A $c^{c h}$ ‍ $c^{c h}$ ‍ rabbit has chinchilla coloration (grayish fur).
A $c^{h} c^{h}$ ‍ rabbit has Himalayan (color-point) patterning, with a white body and dark extremities.
A $c c$ ‍ rabbit is albino, with a pure white coat.
Image from OpenStax, CC BY 3.0
An example of this is the gene for coat color in rabbits (the $C$ ‍ gene) which comes in four common alleles: $C$ ‍, $c^{c h}$ ‍, $c^{h}$ ‍, and $c$ ‍.
Pleiotropy. Some genes affect many different characteristics, not just a single characteristic.
Simple schematic illustrating pleiotropy.
In pleiotropy, one gene affects multiple features (feature 1, feature 2, feature 3.
Caption: One gene affects multiple characteristics.
Based on similar diagram by Ingrid Lobo $^{1}$ ‍.
An example of this is Marfan syndrome, which results in several symptoms (unusually tall height, thin fingers and toes, lens dislocation, and heart problems). These symptoms don’t seem directly related, but as it turns out, they can all be traced back to the mutation of a single gene.
Lethal alleles. Some genes have alleles that prevent survival when homozygous or heterozygous.
Two yellow mice ( $A^{Y} A$ ‍ genotype) are crossed to one another. The Punnett square for the cross is:
$A^{Y}$ ‍ $A$ ‍
$A^{Y}$ ‍ $A^{Y}$ ‍ $A^{Y}$ ‍ (dies as embryo) $A^{Y}$ ‍ $A$ ‍ (yellow)
$A$ ‍ $A^{Y}$ ‍ $A$ ‍ (yellow) $A$ ‍ $A$ ‍ (agouti/brown)
There is a phenotypic ratio of 2:1 yellow:brown among the mice that survive to birth.
A classic example of an allele that affects survival is the lethal yellow allele, a spontaneous mutation in mice that makes their coats yellow. Mice that are homozygous ( $A^{Y} A^{Y}$ ‍) genotype die early in development. Although this particular allele is dominant, lethal alleles can be dominant or recessive, and can be expressed in homozygous or heterozygous conditions.

		$A^{Y}$ ‍	$A$ ‍
$A^{Y}$ ‍		$A^{Y}$ ‍ $A^{Y}$ ‍ (dies as embryo)	$A^{Y}$ ‍ $A$ ‍ (yellow)
$A$ ‍		$A^{Y}$ ‍ $A$ ‍ (yellow)	$A$ ‍ $A$ ‍ (agouti/brown)

Polygenic inheritance and environmental effects

Many characteristics, such as height, skin color, eye color, and risk of diseases, are controlled by many factors. These factors may be genetic, environmental, or both.

Polygenic inheritance. Some characteristics are polygenic, meaning that they’re controlled by a number of different genes. In polygenic inheritance, traits often form a phenotypic spectrum rather than falling into clear-cut categories.
Human skin color chart showing spectrum of skin pigmentation
Human skin color chart. Image from Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0,
An example of this is skin pigmentation in humans, which is controlled by several different genes.
Environmental effects. Most real-world characteristics are determined not just by genotype, but also by environmental factors that influence how genotype is translated into phenotype.
Blue and pink hydrangea flowers
Blue and pink hydrangea due to variance in soil pH. Image by Lynn Greyling, Public domain
An example of this is the hydrangea flower. Hydrangea of the same genetic variety may vary in color from blue to pink depending on the pH of the soil they are in.

Common mistakes and misconceptions

Some people confuse pleiotropy and polygenic inheritance. The major difference between the two is that pleiotropy is when one gene affects multiple characteristics (e.g. Marfan syndrome) and polygenic inheritance is when one trait is controlled by multiple genes (e.g. skin pigmentation).
Codominance and incomplete dominance are not the same. In codominance, neither allele is dominant over the other, so both will be expressed equally in the heterozygote. In incomplete dominance, there is an intermediate heterozygote (such as a pink flower when the parents' phenotypes are red and white).

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Allison Kubas
Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to Allison Kubas's post “If codominance is possibl...”
If codominance is possible, are corecessive traits possible as well?
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(12 votes)
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- Natrium Chloride
  Posted 3 years ago. Direct link to Natrium Chloride's post “Good question, there seem...”
  Good question, there seems to be a lot of discussion about this. The answer is no, there's nothing called co-recessive. In reality, being dominant or recessive is relative. An allele may be recessive to one allele but dominant to another. Which means if one particular locus can hold three alleles, say K k1 and k2, where K is dominant to both k1 and k2. Suppose a person has alleles k1 and k2, they can show co-dominance, incomplete dominance or complete dominance. It depends on the extent of dominance against each other. As this person only has k1 and k2, we are comparing which one is more dominant, rather that comparing them against K.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (7 votes)
layaz7717
Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to layaz7717's post “Will recessive traits eve...”
Will recessive traits eventually disappear from the population, or at least become less common?
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(6 votes)
Answer
- Austin
  Posted 3 years ago. Direct link to Austin's post “I think it would depend o...”
  I think it would depend on whether or not the recessive traits jeopardized an organism's safety. For example, if a recessive trait for a rabbit was bright white fur compared to a muted brown, and the rabbit's habitat was in a jungle or swamp, than the rabbit's with the recessive traits would be easier to target by predators, and therefore the recessive trait would be less likely to be passed on through each generation. The recessive trait would be very hard to get out of a large population compared to a smaller one, and it depends on if the recessive trait effects the animal's ability to adapt and avoid danger. For this reason, most recessive traits in humans will not eventually disappear, because even though the recessive trait is harder to pass down; there are so many humans (around 7.8 billion) that humans with common recessive traits will never be fully extinct. And since humans are the ultimate (apex) predator, people with common recessive traits face no real danger because of the recessive trait they may have. An only exception is if the recessive trait causes some kind of cancer, or other highly dangerous medical condition. It is possible for recessive traits to become less common, but with the human population growing so much, it is hard to predict the trend that recessive traits will take. However; like I noted before, most animals face a different playing field in their natural habitat than humans. So it is possible that recessive traits would become less common to the point of extinction in smaller animal populations.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (10 votes)
layaz7717
Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to layaz7717's post “In this article, I notice...”
In this article, I noticed that certain alleles were expressed with a superscript. When is a superscript used? Is it when there are multiple alleles?
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(4 votes)
Answer
- Austin
  Posted 3 years ago. Direct link to Austin's post “Yes, I believe a subscrip...”
  Yes, I believe a subscript is used when there are multiple types of alleles at play. They are to distinguish the types of alleles that are being passed down through a generation.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (4 votes)
ALEXANDERN
Posted 3 years ago. Direct link to ALEXANDERN's post “Why are some things albin...”
Why are some things albino looking , and what type of mutation is present at the time of the growing in the mother .
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(5 votes)
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rowzeej
Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to rowzeej's post “Is it normal to look like...”
Is it normal to look like you have Marfan Syndrome but not actually have it?
Button navigates to signup pageComment on rowzeej's post “Is it normal to look like...”
(4 votes)
Answer
- ksorajja30🎶
  Posted a year ago. Direct link to ksorajja30🎶's post “People are born with Marf...”
  People are born with Marfan syndrome but they may not notice any features until later in life and some of these features can appear at any age. Some people have many characteristics at birth or as young children. Other people develop aortic enlargement, as teens or even as adults.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (2 votes)
dyhmondwallace
Posted a year ago. Direct link to dyhmondwallace's post “So basically pigmentation...”
So basically pigmentation really depends on the parents? Just how flowers or other living things rely on their developers as well?
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(3 votes)
Answer
- §𝒽∆∂©𝚿™
  Posted 9 months ago. Direct link to §𝒽∆∂©𝚿™'s post “I think so for the most p...”
  I think so for the most part, though your skin could change color from environmental factors such as sunlight or getting a tattoo.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (3 votes)
Tran Phan Minh Kien
Posted 8 months ago. Direct link to Tran Phan Minh Kien's post “By the way, how does a ch...”
By the way, how does a chicken become white and black like that? I don't understand.
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(3 votes)
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sudhanshu singh
Posted 2 years ago. Direct link to sudhanshu singh's post “in the example of snapdra...”
in the example of snapdragon you hae used [ WW-for white ]
[ RR-for red ], will this not csuse ambiguity,

in the begning you have convinced us that allele of same gene can't get diffrent alphabatical letter
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(3 votes)
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lilgaben17
Posted a year ago. Direct link to lilgaben17's post “the whole rabbit thing do...”
the whole rabbit thing does not make sense to me like what does Cch mean?
Button navigates to signup pageComment on lilgaben17's post “the whole rabbit thing do...”
(2 votes)
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- dyhmondwallace
  Posted a year ago. Direct link to dyhmondwallace's post “Cch stands for a syndrome...”
  Cch stands for a syndrome called Congenital central hypoventilation
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  (2 votes)
lucija.falamic00
Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to lucija.falamic00's post “How is it possible that t...”
How is it possible that there could be a codominant relationship between alleles for pigments, for example in cattle, if white allele doesn't produce functional polypeptide?
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(2 votes)
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