What inheritance pattern is controlled by two or more alleles, affecting traits like skin and eye color?

What inheritance pattern is controlled by two or more alleles, affecting traits like skin and eye color?

• A. Codominance
• B. Polygenic Inheritance
• C. Incomplete Dominance
• D. Haploid Inheritance

Answer: (B)

Polygenic inheritance is a pattern where multiple genes, each with two or more alleles, contribute to a single trait. This results in a continuous range of phenotypes, as seen in traits like skin color and eye color, where variations in the combinations of alleles from different genes create a spectrum of possible outcomes. Each gene involved adds to the overall effect, leading to the nuanced variations that are characteristic of these traits. In polygenic inheritance, the collective influence of several alleles results in traits that do not follow simple Mendelian inheritance patterns, where a trait is determined by a single gene with two alleles. Instead, multiple genes work in tandem, and the resulting phenotypic expression is often a blend of the contributions from all the involved alleles. This complexity is why traits governed by polygenic inheritance can appear in such diverse forms even within a single population.

Polygenic inheritance is a pattern where multiple genes, each with two or more alleles, contribute to a single trait. This results in a continuous range of phenotypes, as seen in traits like skin color and eye color, where variations in the combinations of alleles from different genes create a spectrum of possible outcomes. Each gene involved adds to the overall effect, leading to the nuanced variations that are characteristic of these traits.

In polygenic inheritance, the collective influence of several alleles results in traits that do not follow simple Mendelian inheritance patterns, where a trait is determined by a single gene with two alleles. Instead, multiple genes work in tandem, and the resulting phenotypic expression is often a blend of the contributions from all the involved alleles. This complexity is why traits governed by polygenic inheritance can appear in such diverse forms even within a single population.