Linked Genes: A Celebration of Inheritance!

Why are linked genes important in understanding inheritance?

Linked genes are genes that are located closely together on the same chromosome, affecting how traits are inherited. How do linked genes impact Mendel's law of independent assortment?

Answer:

Genes that are linked violate Mendel's law of independent assortment because their alleles tend to be inherited together. However, if genes are far apart on the same chromosome, they are likely to still assort independently due to recombination events that occurred during meiosis.

Explanation: Mendel's law of independent assortment states that during meiosis, genes sort into gametes independently of one another. This happens because genes are located on chromosomes, which assort independently during meiosis. Additionally, crossovers lead the majority of genes on the same chromosome to behave independently as well. Alleles of genes that are near to one another on the same chromosome are typically inherited together.

Because of this, the offspring-to-parent ratios defy Mendel's law of independent assortment. Recombination, on the other hand, allows maternal and paternal alleles to be recombined on the same chromosome by exchanging genetic material on homologous chromosomes. For this reason, alleles on a particular chromosome do not always inherit in unison. Anywhere on a chromosome, recombination can happen at random.

As a result, recombination events that took place in the intervening chromosomal space are likely to enable genes that are far from one another on the same chromosome to nonetheless assort independently.