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Linkage

Linkage refers to the tendency of genes located on the same chromosome to be inherited together, as opposed to those on different chromosomes that assort independently. There are two types of linkage: complete linkage, where parental combinations persist across generations, and incomplete linkage, where genes can separate due to crossing over. The significance of linkage lies in its ability to reduce variability in gametes, unless crossing over occurs.

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2 views

Linkage

Linkage refers to the tendency of genes located on the same chromosome to be inherited together, as opposed to those on different chromosomes that assort independently. There are two types of linkage: complete linkage, where parental combinations persist across generations, and incomplete linkage, where genes can separate due to crossing over. The significance of linkage lies in its ability to reduce variability in gametes, unless crossing over occurs.

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vkrp217
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Linkage

• Each chromosome contains more than one gene.


• The genes for different characters may be either situated in the same
chromosome or in different chromosomes.
• When the genes are situated in different chromosomes, the
characters they control appear in the next generation together or
apart, depending on the chance alone. They assort independently
according to Mendel’s law of independent assortment.
• But if the genes are situated in the same chromosome and are fairly
close to each other, they tend to be inherited together.
• This type of coexistence of two or more genes in the same
chromosome is known as linkage.

Characteristic of Linked Genes


Genes on different chromosomes assort independently giving a 1: 1: 1: 1
test cross ratio. Linked genes do not assort independently but tend to stay
together in the same combination as they were in the parents.

Chromosome Theory of Linkage


Morgan along with Castle formulated the chromosome theory of linkage
which is as follows:
1. The genes which show the phenomenon of linkage are situated in
the same chromosomes and these linked genes usually remain
bounded by the chromosomal material so that they cannot be
separated during the process of inheritance.
2. The distance between the linked genes determines the strength of
linkage. The closely located genes show strong linkage than the
widely located genes which show the weak linkage.
3. The genes are arranged in linear fashion in the chromosomes.

Types of Linkage
Morgan and his co-workers by their investigation on the Drosophila found
two types of linkage –
1. Complete linkage and
2. Incomplete linkage.

Complete Linkage
• The complete linkage is the phenomenon in which parental
combinations of characters appear together for two or more
generations in a continuous and regular fashion.
• In this type of linkage genes are closely associated and tend to
transmit together.
Example. The genes for bent wings (bt) and shaven bristles (svn) of the
fourth chromosome mutant of Drosophila melanogaster exhibit complete
linkage.
In 1919, T.H. Morgan mated gray bodied and vestigial winged (b+vg/b+vg)
fruit flies with flies having black bodies and normal wings (bvg+/bvg+). F1
progeny had gray bodies and normal long wings (b+vg/bvg+), indicating
thereby that these characters are dominant.When F1 males (b+vg/bvg+),
were backcrossed (i.e., test crossed) to double recessive females (bvg/bvg
or black vestigial), only two types of progeny (one with gray bodies and
vestigial wings, b+vg/bvg and the other with black bodies and normal
wings, to bvg+/bvg instead of four types of phenotypes were obtained.

Incomplete Linkage
• The linked genes which are widely located in chromosomes and have
chances of separation by crossing over are called incompletely
linked genes and the phenomenon of their inheritance is called
incomplete linkage.
• The linked genes do not always stay together because homologous
non-sister chromatids may exchange segments of varying length
with one another during meiotic prophase. This sort of exchange of
chromosomal segments in between homologous chromosomes is
known as crossing over.
Example. The incomplete linkage has been reported in female Drosophila
and various other organisms such as tomato, maize, pea, mice, poultry and
man, etc.
Incomplete Linkage in maize. In Zea mays (maize) a case of incomplete
linkage between the
alleles for colour and shape of the seed has been observed by Hutchison.
When a maize plant with seeds having coloured and full endosperm
(CS/CS) is crossed with another plant having recessive alleles for colourless,
shrunken seeds (cs/cs), the F1 heterozygotes are found with the phenotype
of coloured full and genotype of CS/cs. When F1 hybrid is test crossed with
double recessive parent (cs/cs) four classes of descendants are obtained
instead of two. The test cross results are clearly showing that parental
combination of alleles (e.g., CS/cs and cs/ cs) are those expected from
complete linkage and appear in 96% cases, the other two are new
combinations (e.g., Cs/cs and cS/cs) and appear in 4% cases. Thus, in 4%
cases crossing over has occurred between linked genes.

Significance of Linkage
The phenomenon of linkage has one of the great significance for the living
organisms in that it reduces the possibility of variability in gametes unless
crossing over occurs.

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