In chickens, the pink comb dominates over the simple one. The breeder suspects that several of his wyandots

In chickens, the pink comb dominates over the simple one. The breeder suspects that several of his wyandots, which have a pink-shaped crest, are heterozygous. How can this assumption be verified?

Let’s designate the gene that determines the development of a pink-shaped ridge in chickens as B, then the gene for a simple scallop will be b.

Chickens and males with a pink-shaped comb can be either BB or Bb.

To identify heterozygous wyandots, the poultry farmer can resort to the so-called selection method of analyzing crossing: individuals suspected of heterozygosity are crossed with birds with a simple comb.

Birds and a simple comb – cc, since homozygosity is a prerequisite for the development of such a comb. They produce the same type of sex cells – b.

If males and hens are heterozygous – Bb, they produce germ cells B and b.

Then the offspring will have different options:

50% of chicks will have a pink comb (Bb);

50% – plain comb (bb).

In the event that the wyandot is a representative of a pure line, that is, BB, it will produce sex cells of one single type – B, and as a result of crossing such an individual with an individual with a simple comb, all chickens will have pink-shaped combs – Bb.