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Linkage

The document discusses the concept of linkage in genetics, which refers to the tendency of genes located on the same chromosome to be inherited together, as first noted by Bateson and Punnet in 1906 and later expanded by T. H. Morgan. It outlines the Chromosome Theory of Inheritance proposed by Walters S. Sutton, stating that genes on the same chromosome cannot assort independently. The document also describes two types of linkage: complete linkage, where genes are inherited together without forming new combinations, and incomplete linkage, where genes can separate and form new combinations due to crossing over during meiosis.

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29 views3 pages

Linkage

The document discusses the concept of linkage in genetics, which refers to the tendency of genes located on the same chromosome to be inherited together, as first noted by Bateson and Punnet in 1906 and later expanded by T. H. Morgan. It outlines the Chromosome Theory of Inheritance proposed by Walters S. Sutton, stating that genes on the same chromosome cannot assort independently. The document also describes two types of linkage: complete linkage, where genes are inherited together without forming new combinations, and incomplete linkage, where genes can separate and form new combinations due to crossing over during meiosis.

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mj2508934
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Linkage

In 1906, Bateson and Punnet reported the first exception to Mendel's law of
independent assortment. It was found that independent assortment of genes does not
take place always because a large number of genes located on the chromosomes are
inked together and they pass together from generation to generation. This tendency of
genes to pass on to the next generation in groups is known as linkage. The
phenomenon of linkage was discovered by T. H. Morgan in 1911 in Drosophila
melanogaster. The genes located on the same chromosome and being inherited is
known as linked genes, and the characters controlled by these genes are linked
characters.

Chromosome Theory of Inheritance- It was proposed by Walters S. Sutton (1903).


According to this theory genes are located in the chromosomes. Each pair of
chromosome contains several genes. The genes located on the same chromosome
cannot assort independently, rather these tend to be inherited together. This
phenomenon of inheritance of genes together and to retain their parental combination
even in the offsprings is known as linkage.

All the genes which are located on the single chromosome constitute a linkage group.
The total number of linkage groups in an organism is equal to the number of
chromosome pairs. For example, there are 4 linkage groups in Drosophila
melanogaster, 23 pairs in man and 7 in sweet pea.

TYPES OF LINKAGE- The linkage is found in all animals and plants. There are
two types of linkage:

1. Complete linkage
2. Incomplete linkage

1. COMPLETE LINKAGE-

Complete linkage is showing when the genes for a particular character are present
very close to one another. Such cases in which linked genes are transmitted together
to the offsprings only in their original or parental combination for two or more or
several generations exhibit complete linkage. In such cases, the linked genes do not
separate to form the new or non-parental combinations.

Example: The best example of complete linkage is male Drosophila. When a


Drosophila fly with grey body and long wings is crossed with one having a black
body and vestigial wings, all the F1 offspring’s produced are having grey bodies and
long wings because grey color is dominant over black color and long wings are
dominant over vestigial wings.

However, if a male from F1 generation is back crossed with a double recessive black
vestigial female, we should expect four kinds of offspring’s in equal number as the
result of independent assortment. But there are only two types of offspring’s which
resemble the two grandparents. The results indicate that grey body character is
inherited together with the vestigial wings. It means that these genes are linked
together. Similarly, black body character is associated with the long wings. In the
above example, the offspring’s exhibit only the parental combinations on characters,
since any non-parental combinations are not found. Ultimately it may be concluded
that the genes for grey body and long wings are linked together and thus show
complete linkage.

2. Incomplete Linkage

Incomplete linkage occurs when the genes for different characters are separated at the
time of gamete formation due to breaking and exchange of chromosomes pieces
during meiosis. During the reunion, the broken pieces of the chromatids are
exchanged, producing some non parental or new combinations. Therefore, the linkage
is incomplete. The phenomenon of interchange of chromosomes segments
between two homologous chromosomes is called crossing over. The incomplete
linkage is very common and has been found almost all the organisms.
Example: The incomplete linkage is exhibited by female Drosophila, tomato, maize,
pea, poultry and man etc. In sweet pea, blue flower color and long pollen character
exhibit incomplete linkage. When a sweet pea variety with blue flowers (B) and long
pollen (L) is crossed with another variety having red flowers (b) and round pollen (l),
F1 individuals (BbLl) produced blue flowers and long pollen. These F1 individuals
when crossed with plants having red flowers and round pollen (bbll) we find the test
cross frequency as shown below;

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