Question

consider the sex-linked inheritance patterns of a cross between two flies, a white-eyed female ($x^{w}x^{w}$) and a red-eyed male($x^{w}y$). in this case, the inheritance of a sex-linked trait, only the female flies would have red eyes. if this gene were on a non-sex chromosome, or autosome, what would be the expected outcome for offspring eye color?
a there is a 50:50 chance that fly offspring will have red eyes or white eyes.
b red eyes are not gender specific and 100% of the offspring would have red eyes.
c 100% of the male offspring would have red eyes and 50% of the female offspring would have red eyes.
d red eyes are not gender specific. depending on the genotype of the male fly, ww or ww, either 100% or 50% of the offspring would have red eyes.

Explanation:

First, we redefine the trait as autosomal: let the red-eye allele be \(W\) (dominant) and white-eye allele be \(w\) (recessive). The white-eyed female has genotype \(ww\), and the red-eyed male must be \(WW\) (since red is dominant and he expresses the trait). When crossing \(ww \times WW\), all offspring will inherit one \(W\) from the male and one \(w\) from the female, resulting in genotype \(Ww\). Since \(W\) is dominant, all offspring will have red eyes, and the trait is not gender-specific.

Answer:

C. 100% of the male offspring would have red eyes and 50% of the female offspring would have red eyes.