Name: using test crosses to identify genotypes
Uploaded: 2025-10-23T11:49:30.000Z
Duration: 1 min 39 s
Channel: JoVE

K12 Standards

Virginia  Standards of Learning

HIgh School

Life Science

LS.10

LS.10.c

Test Cross

A test cross is a technique that can be used to determine the genotype of an organism expressing a dominant trait, like purple flower color in pea plants.

Because the dominant version, or allele, of a gene will always be expressed over the recessive allele, organisms with the homozygous dominant genotype, two dominant alleles, will appear the same as organisms with the heterozygous genotype, one dominant allele.

A purple-flowered pea plant of unknown genotype can be crossed to a pea plant that has the recessive phenotype, white flowers, and thus is known to have the homozygous-recessive genotype, pp.

In one scenario, if all of the offspring from the test cross display the dominant phenotype, the unknown parent must be homozygous dominant for purple flowers. All of the offspring are heterozygous, receiving one recessive allele from the recessive parent and one dominant allele from the other parent.

However, if the offspring include equal numbers of organisms, displaying the dominant phenotype and organisms displaying the recessive phenotype, the unknown parent must be heterozygous.

All of the offspring still receive their recessive allele from the recessive parent; half of the offspring received a dominant allele from the heterozygous parent and exhibit the dominant phenotype, while the other half received a second copy of the recessive allele from the heterozygous parent and exhibit the recessive phenotype.

test cross

Alleles are different forms of the same gene. Humans and other diploid organisms inherit two alleles of every gene, one from each parent.

An allele is recessive if its effects are masked by another allele at the same gene location. For example, pea plants can have purple or white flowers. In this case, white flowers are recessive since a single copy of the allele for purple flowers will result in a plant with purple flowers, even if they also have the allele for white flowers.

If an organism exhibits a known recessive trait, determining the organism&#8217;s genotype&#8212;its pair of inherited alleles&#8212;is simple. Only one genotype, pp (two recessive alleles), produces white flowers.

For an organism with a dominant trait&#8212;like a pea plant with purple flowers&#8212;determining genotype is not as straightforward. Two genotypes, PP and Pp, produce purple flowers.

Scientists use test crosses to determine the genotypes of organisms exhibiting simple dominant traits. A test cross involves breeding, or crossing, the organism in question with one displaying the recessive counterpart of its dominant trait.

In a test cross for a pea plant with purple flowers, the plant is bred with a pea plant that has white flowers (pp genotype). The flower color of the resulting offspring reveals whether the parent with purple flowers is homozygous (PP) or heterozygous (Pp).

If the plant is homozygous, all of the offspring will inherit one of its dominant P alleles and one of the other parent&#8217;s recessive p alleles. Since dominant alleles mask recessive alleles, all offspring will have purple flowers, the dominant trait.

If the plant is heterozygous, however, about 50% of the offspring will inherit its recessive p allele, along with another recessive allele from the other parent. Therefore, about half the offspring from this cross will have white flowers. In this way, test crosses can reveal unknown parental genotypes.

Alleles are different forms of the same gene. Humans and other diploid organisms inherit two alleles of every gene, one from each parent.

An allele is ...

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KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

using test crosses to identify genotypes

Test crosses are used to identify the genotype of an organism with a dominant trait. A genotype is the pair of alleles inherited for a gene, and alleles are different forms of the same gene. In diploid organisms, including humans, each gene usually has two alleles, one from each parent.

An allele is recessive when its effect is hidden by another allele at the same gene location. Pea plants provide a clear example with flower color. White flowers are recessive, because one copy of the purple allele is enough to make a plant purple, even if it also carries the white allele.

When a trait is recessive, the genotype is easy to determine. For white pea flowers, only one genotype produces the trait: pp, with two recessive alleles. The problem is different for dominant traits, such as purple flowers. Two genotypes, PP and Pp, can both produce purple flowers.

Scientists use a test cross to solve that problem. In this method, the organism with the dominant trait is bred with an organism that shows the recessive version of the same trait. For a purple-flowered pea plant, the cross is made with a white-flowered pea plant with the pp genotype. The offspring then show whether the purple parent is homozygous, meaning PP, or heterozygous, meaning Pp.

The offspring pattern gives the answer. If the purple plant is homozygous, every offspring inherits one dominant P allele and one recessive p allele, so they all have purple flowers. If the purple plant is heterozygous, about half of the offspring inherit the recessive p allele from that parent and become white. In this way, test crosses reveal unknown parental genotypes.

Using Test Crosses to Identify Genotypes

genetic lingo

Genotype, Phenotype, and Inheritance

Genotype, phenotype, and inheritance help explain how traits and disease risk are passed from parents to offspring. In diploid organisms, including humans, most other animals, and many plants, somatic cells carry a duplicate set of chromosomes. These chromosome pairs are homologous, with similar length, centromere position, and gene locations. Diploid organisms inherit two versions of each gene, one from each parent. These versions are called alleles, and they sit at the same relative locus,...

punnett squares

Punnett Squares for Predicting Traits

Punnett squares help predict which traits offspring may inherit from two parents. They show possible genotypes, which are pairs of alleles, and can also show the chance of a phenotype, or visible trait, when the inheritance pattern is known. These grids work best for traits controlled by a single gene locus and passed on independently during meiosis. Punnett squares were developed in the early 1900s by Reginald Punnett. His work came after Gregor Mendel’s pea plant experiments revealed the...

monohybrid crosses

Mendel’s Pea Plant Inheritance Ratios

Gregor Mendel used pea plants to study how traits are passed from parents to offspring. His breeding experiments in the 1850s and 1860s showed that inheritance follows clear patterns. He crossed true-breeding plants that differed in one trait and found that dominant traits can hide recessive traits. Mendel focused on seven pea plant traits, and each trait had two forms controlled by a single gene locus. He noticed that true-breeding plants always produced offspring with the same phenotype, or...

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Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment

Mendel’s law of independent assortment explains how two traits can be inherited separately. Gregor Mendel tested this idea with pea plants that differed in two characteristics, such as pea color and pea shape. He used true-breeding parents that were homozygous for both traits but showed different phenotypes. In one example, Mendel crossed round, yellow peas with wrinkled, green peas. The parental generation had RRYY and rryy genotypes. Their first-generation offspring were all dihybrids,...

law of segregation

Mendel’s Pea Cross Ratios

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Mendel’s Dihybrid Cross and Trait Ratios

Mendel’s dihybrid cross shows how two traits are inherited at the same time. A dihybrid cross is a cross in which both parents are homozygous for two distinct traits, and the F1 generation is heterozygous for both traits. Mendel used pea plants with round yellow peas and wrinkled green peas as an example. One parent had genotype YYRR, and the other had genotype yyrr. In the F1 generation, every plant showed the dominant traits, so the plants were YyRr and had yellow, round peas. The F2...

Test crosses are used to identify the genotype of an organism with a dominant trait. A genotype is the pair of alleles inherited for a gene, and alleles are different forms of the same gene. In diploid organisms, including humans, each gene usually has two alleles, one from each parent. An allele is recessive when its effect is hidden by another allele at the same gene location. Pea plants provide a clear example with flower color. White flowers are recessive, because one copy of the purple...

polygenic traits

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epistasis

Gene Masking in Rabbit Fur Color

Epistasis describes how one gene can mask or change the effect of another gene. In high school genetics, this helps explain why many traits do not follow a simple single-gene pattern. Instead, alleles at different locations can work together to shape the final phenotype. Mendel studied seven unrelated pea traits, but most traits involve multiple gene interactions. Epistasis often happens when one gene interferes with the expression of another gene. It can also occur when genes are part of the...

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Pleiotropy is when one gene affects more than one trait. The SOX10 gene is a clear example because it can influence pigmentation, hearing, and intestinal movement. These traits may seem unrelated, but they can all be linked to the same gene change. In humans, a deleted region in SOX10 can cause Waardenburg Syndrome Type 4, or WS4. WS4 is an autosomal recessive disorder, which means a person usually inherits two altered copies of the gene. Common signs include a white forelock,...

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X- and Y-linked disorders come from mutations in genes on the sex chromosomes. These genes, like those on autosomes, are needed for normal body function. When a mutation causes a biological problem, the condition is called sex-linked. Y-linked disorders come from changes in the Y chromosome. They affect only males, because only males carry a Y chromosome. Mutations in this small chromosome can affect male sexual function and secondary sex characteristics. One example is Y-chromosome...

x-linked traits

X-Linked Inheritance in Families

X-linked inheritance explains how traits on the X chromosome are passed through families. In most mammalian species, females have two X sex chromosomes, while males have one X and one Y. A mutation on one X chromosome may be masked in females by a normal allele on the other X. In males, that same mutation is more likely to show because there is no second normal X to balance it. Traits caused by changes on the X chromosome are called X-linked traits. Color blindness is a well-studied example.

x-inactivation

Barr Bodies and X-Chromosome Balance

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Genes map to chromosomes, and this idea explains how Mendel’s inheritance patterns work. Gregor Mendel published his pea plant breeding results in 1866. He showed that physical traits follow predictable patterns. At the time, scientists did not yet know that genes existed. Mendel used the word "factors" for the hereditary units he studied. The details behind Mendel’s laws of segregation and independent assortment were still unknown for many years. In the late 1800s, better microscopes and...

key terms and concepts

Learn how a test cross uses a recessive partner to reveal whether a dominant trait is homozygous or heterozygous in pea plants.

Using Test Crosses to Identify Genotypes | JoVE K12

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heredity-inheritance-and-variation-of-traits

Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

HS-LS3-1

new-york-state-science-learning-standards

New York State Science Learning Standards

Inheritance and Variation of Traits

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Florida Department of Education

SC.912.L.16

SC.912.L.16.1

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Using Test Crosses to Identify Genotypes

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