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This one is easy for me, because I'm colour-blind. That is also a recessive X-linked trait, and Drosophila have their sexes determined in the same way as humans, so I'm in the same boat. We humans and flies have a certain number of chromosomes in pairs, then two others, called the X chromosome and the Y chromosome.

When you have an unusual recessive gene on a paired chromosome, it is usually masked by the gene on the other of the pair. Usually, the things we notice are absences, deficiencies, things that go wrong, and the reason things have gone wrong is that some chemical or other is not being made, because the instructions are scrambled. When there are two versions of the gene, the non-mutant form pretty well covers for it, making enough of the missing chemical to hide the effect.

Females have two X chromosomes, so the non-faulty X can cover for the other one, but in males, the Y chromosome has very little useful information on it, so white eye shows up in a male Drosophila, and colour blindness shows up in me. There was just no second copy there to hide the trait.

This is actually a bit too simple: women who are carriers for G6PD deficiency have measurably lower levels of G6PD. Other confounding factors: in humans, one of the X chromosomes is wrapped up and turned off. The tortoiseshell coat in some female cats is caused because coat colour is X-linked in cats, and the colour at any point depends on which X chromosome is turned off.

This was explained by a lovely geneticist called Mary Lyon, who was still working, last time I emailed her with a question.

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14y ago
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12y ago

Because males only have one X chromosome-sex linked traits are linked on the X chromosome. If they receive a recessive trait on the X chromosome, they automatically have the trait, and in females, they must have two X chromosomes for the given trait.

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Q: Why are recessive X-linked traits more likely to be expressed in a male fruit fly than a female fruit fly?
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Related questions

What are genes that are less likely to be expressed called?

A recessive gene


What is the most likely mode of transmission for a trait that is not expressed in parents but is expressed by one half of the sons?

Rare X-linked recessive


Why are recessive alleles not always expressed as the phenotype?

recessive alleles get masked to show the difference in a dominant gene and a recessive gene. the dominate genes masks the recessive genes to show that the dominate gene is more dominate or more likely to be the outcome than the reccessive gene but the masked gene is not always recessive.


Why are males more likely than female to have a sex linked trait that is recessive?

Because they olny have one X chromosome.


What is a dominent allele?

A dominant allele is an allele that can take over a recessive allele, so if you have a dominant allele and a recessive allele, then the offspring will most likely have a dominant allele over a recessive allele. The dominant allele is expressed over the recessive allele.


Difference between dominant and recessive genes?

dominant genes are more likely to be passed down to a child than recessive genes. Here's an example: A woman has black hair and blue eyes. Her husband has blonde hair and brown eyes. Their child will most likely have brown eyes and black hair, because black hair and brown eyes are dominant genes, while blonde hair and blue eyes are recessive. It is, of course, still possible for the child to be blonde and blue-eyed, only less likely. However, if the father had blue eyes too, it would be most likely that the child would have blue eyes. Grandparents are also a factor: say that both parents have blue eyes, but one or more of the child's grandparents (or anyone down the genetic line, actually) has brown eyes. It is therefore also possible for the child to have brown eyes. hope it helped


What causes bleeding from the butt in dogs?

Most likely its the anal glands, is dog a female? take to vet, the glands need expressed.


Why do some traits occur mainly in males even though they can be inherited only from their mothers?

Consider recessive traits on the X chromosome. Women have two of these, so it is statistically less likely that a woman would express this recessive trait and much more likely that it would be masked by a dominate X chromosome. If a male gets a recessive X from his mother ( remember, males have one X and one Y chromosome ) it is going to be expressed as there is no corresponding chromosome to mask it.


Why are females less likely to get hemophilia?

Females are less likely to show the symptoms of hemophilia but in actuality are more likely to have the genetic mutation for hemophilia. The reason they are less likely to show the symptoms is the fact that hemophilia is the result of a mutation on the X chromosome. Since females have two X chromosomes they likely have a chromosome that is not mutated as well. With the mutation normally being a recessive trait, the normal X chromosome is usually expressed instead. Since males only have one X chromosome, if the mutation for hemophilia is present, it will be expressed. For the same reasons, the chances of a female having the mutation is greater (however still very small), simply because she has two X chromosomes.


Is servant syndrome dominant or recessive?

There is no servant syndrome, It is likely that you are thinking albeit with bad spelling of Savant Syndrome. and it is recessive


Are recessive traits inherited?

A recessive trait can only be passed along if both parents carry at least one of the recessive genes to the child. If both parents manifest the trait (that is, if both parents have both recessive genes), then the child will manifest (that is, carry both recessive genes and display) the recessive trait. If one parent manifests and the other parent only carries the trait (that is, carries one dominant and one recessive gene) then the child will definitely carry and have a 50% chance of manifesting. If both parents carry the recessive, the child is 25% likely not to carry the trait at all, 50% likely to carry and 25% likely to manifest the trait.


Are the dominant traits always the most common in a population?

it is because that trait is more dominant. when a dominant and a recessive trait combine it is most likely that hte dominant trait will be expressed. it is only when a recessive trait combines with an another recassive trait that hte trait gets expressed(which is rare and not so commonly occuring)