>I am -=very=- new at this genetics stuff, so please feel free to
>correct any incorrect surmises here!
Let's see if I can help. It's been awhile since I've done any breeding, but
I'll try.
>
>After talking to the breeder of Fuschienne and Kalonice I am a bit
>confused. The parents of these girls are a black spotted and an
>agouti (golden, albeit dark). The litter consisted of two black
>spotted (one male and one female) and two black (assuming
>Fuschienne is black). The only way I can figure that is if:
>
>Mom - aa CC Ee Gg Pp Spsp - Spotted Black
>Dad - Aa CC Ee Gg Pp spsp - Agouti
Oops, I think this is your mistake. You have no proof that I can see that
the girls' parents are Gg. Assume that they are GG. Also, assume EE unless
you have some other proof that the parents carry the e recessive. General
rule is to assume that the parents carry no recessive genes unless there is
other proof (i.e. you know Dad is Aa because the offspring are black, but
you don't know about anything else). Understand?
>Still, even so, the odds were much much higher that the pups
>should have been a mix of spotted agouti, agouti, spotted black
>and black rather than simply black and spotted black.
Ahh, but here's the problem. You only have four gerbils in one litter to
base your statistics on. Too few to be worried about odds. Who knows, the
next litter could be all agouti!
>Am I right on this so far?
You're close. Just remember that the number of gerbils you're looking at is
too few to make conclusions on.
Now try running this through the gene calculator:
Mom- aa CC EE GG PP Spsp (spotted black)
Dad- Aa CC EE GG PP spsp (Agouti)
Hope that helps!
Deb Adams
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
