Polygenic Inheritance

POLYGENIC
INHERITANCE
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ETYMOLOGY
POLYGENIC
"Poly" means "many" INHERITANCE
and while "genic"
comes from the word
"Genes"
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WHAT IS
When one phenotypic POLYGENIC
character is INHERITANCE?
controlled by more
than one gene, it is
called polygenic
inheritance.
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WHAT IS
Polygenic inheritance
POLYGENIC
(biology definition): A non- INHERITANCE?
Mendelian pattern of
inheritance in which a
particular trait is produced
by the interaction of genes
at many
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Kolerenter is known
as the father of
polygenic
inheritance
Joseph Gottlieb Kölreuter

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The quantity of
inheritance depends It is also
on dominant alleles called
Quantitative
inheritance
Dominant alleles have
a cumulative effect
each expressing part
of the trait
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Examples
human skin and eye color; height, weight, and

intelligence in people; and kernel color of
wheat.
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Polygenic inheritance is controlled by
two types of alleles or genes, namely:

1. Contributing alleles: Alleles that contribute to continuous

variation are referred to as contributing alleles
2. Non-contributing alleles: Alleles that do not contribute to
continuous variation are referred to as non-contributing
alleles.
These alleles are sometimes referred to as effective and non-
effective alleles, respectively.

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The skin color of man oIt was first studied by
Devenport (1913) in the case of Negro-
European intermarriage.
Skin color is due to the pigment melanin. More
pigment, darker is the color
There are three genes (polygene) controlling
the production of melanin. But, for
convenience, we consider only two pairs of
genes.
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For Negro:AABB (maximum
Free melanin)
For Albino :aabb (minimum
melanin)
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PARTENTS
Negro
Albino
(High Melanin) AABB
AB X ab (No Melanin) aabb
AaBb
F1
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Human height
Human height is a polygenic trait that is controlled by three genes
that have six alleles. So, a tall person would have all dominant
alleles whereas a short person will have the most recessive alleles.
Like all the polygenic inheritance patterns, human height
inheritance also follows a normal distribution curve wherein the
extreme ends of the curve represent either extremely short or tall
people, while the middle portion of the curve represents the
population with average height.

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Polygenic inheritance of the human eye color

The eye color follows a polygenic inheritance pattern. In humans, 9 eye

colors are recognized. Phenotypic expression of eye color is controlled
by two major genes and 14 additional genes, which are linked to X
chromosomes. Different combinations of these alleles result in a
variety of eye colors. The eye color is due to the presence of melanin in
the front portion of the iris.

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Black and brown eye color has a high amount of melanin in comparison to
the hazel or green eye color while the complete absence of the melanin
results in blue eye color. Dominant allele (BBGG) contributes to the
melanin synthesis in the iris that results in black eye color while the
combination of all recessive alleles (bbgg) results in blue eye color. The rest
of all the eye colors are the combination of these dominant and recessive
alleles. See below:
BBGG results in Black eyes

BBGg or BbGG results in Dark Brown eyes
BbGg or BBgg or bbGG results in Light Brown eyes
Bbgg or bbGg results in Green eyes
Bbgg results in Blue eyes

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Effect of Environment on Polygenic Inheritance

Polygenes are highly influenced by environmental factors. Basically, the genotype

of an individual sets the range of the quantitative trait while the phenotype of the
trait is eventually an outcome of the environmental factors. Different
environmental conditions regulate the gene function resulting in varying gene
functions. Accordingly, under different environmental conditions, the gene function
may switch OFF or switch ON. This variation in the phenotypic expression of the
same genotype under different environmental conditions is known as the ‘norm of
reaction’. Depending on the genotype involved, the norm of reaction can be
classified as:
Narrow norm of reaction, e.g., human height
Broad norm of reaction

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Nature and nurture both affect phenotypic expression. Intelligence,

depression, height, skin color, schizophrenia are some of the human
characters that are affected by the environment.
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Why is Polygenic Inheritance Important?
Polygenes are responsible for the population variance and have evolutionary
significance. These polygenic variations or changes (polygenesis) are
responsible for the evolution of species. This is also known as the theory of
polygeny for evolution. The variations are according to the specific requirement
and needs of the individual or species. These are essentially responsible for
adaptive changes. The polygenes are majorly applied or utilized by the plant
breeders. The genetic variability is stored in the form of polygenic complexes.
Segregation and recombination of polygenic genes after interbreeding results
in the release of hidden variability in a species.

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POLYGENIC

Joseph Gottlieb Kölreuter

human skin and eye color; height, weight, and

1. Contributing alleles: Alleles that contribute to continuous

The eye color follows a polygenic inheritance pattern. In humans, 9 eye

BBGG results in Black eyes

Effect of Environment on Polygenic Inheritance

Polygenes are highly influenced by environmental factors. Basically, the genotype

Nature and nurture both affect phenotypic expression. Intelligence,

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