Name : Santhiya S
Roll no : 24UBT037
Class : 1st b sc biotechnology
Subject : Genetics
Topic : Epistasis and lethal gene
Epistasis Definition
● “Interaction between genes which determine a phenotype”
● Genetics entails a phenomena, epistasis wherein the impact of a gene
mutation depends on the absence or presence of mutations in one or more
other genes referred to as modifier genes.
● Consequently, the epistatic mutations have various effects on their own than
when it occurs together. Epistasis particularly is used to indicate that the
effect of gene variant gets masked by other genes.
● Epistasis is an interaction discussed at the phenotypic level of the
organization.
An overview on Epistasis
● Typically, epistasis assists in describing various phenomena such as functional
interaction between genes, statistical deviation from additive gene action, and
genetic outcome of mutations that act in the same genetic pathway.
● A drawback of this all-encompassing investigation of the gene interactions is the
total number of interactions which should be tested.
● These are known to grow at nearly the square of the number of genes.
● Furthermore, epistasis can be a roadblock to deduce the genetic basis of complex
characteristics in a natural population. The consequences of several QLTs can be
concealed by the interrelationships with other loci, thus making mapping
challenging.
Types of Epistasis
Epistasis gene interactions are of 6 types
● Dominant
● Recessive
● Polymeric gene interaction
● Dominant inhibitory
● Duplicate recessive
● Duplicate dominant
● It is a simple or dominant epistasis whenever a
dominant allele conceals the expressing of both
recessive and dominant alleles at other loci.
● Dominant epistasis occurs when one gene pair
completely dominates another.
● The dominant allele of one gene hides the
phenotype of the other gene, regardless of the
dominant or recessive alleles present in the
other gene.
Recessive
● Recessive epistasis is a genetic interaction that
occurs when a recessive allele of one gene
masks the expression of alleles of another gene.
● Recessive epistasis occurs when the recessive
alleles of one gene hide the expression of all
alleles of another gene.
● This means that the phenotype associated with
the dominant alleles of a second gene cannot be
observed if the first gene carries two recessive
alleles.
Dominant inhibitory
● It is suppression epistasis or dominant inhibitory
when genes conceal other genes by suppression.
● It is a result of genes acting as suppressors or a
component inhibiting the expression of other
alleles.
● occurs when a dominant allele at one locus
masks the expression of both dominant and
recessive alleles at another locus.
Duplicate recessive
● Duplicate epistasis is based on two loci. It is
duplicate recessive epistasis whenever there is a
recessive allele concealing the expressing of
dominant alleles at two loci.
● Epistasis is said to be duplicate gene action or
dominant epistasis whenever there is a dominant
allele concealing the expression of recessive alleles
at two loci.
Lethal genes
● A lethal gene is a gene that can cause an organism
to die or prevent its development.
● Lethal genes are also known as lethal alleles or
lethal conditions.
● They are usually the result of mutations in genes
that are essential for growth and development.
Types of Lethal genes
● 1. Recessive lethals
● 2. Dominant lethals
● 3. Conditional lethals
● 4. Balanced lethals
● 5. Gametic lethals
Recessive lethals
● These are commonly found, as most lethal
are recessive. Their expression is in
homozygous conditions only, hence
survival of heterozygous ones is unaffected.
● They are a pair of identical alleles that
ultimately result in the death of an entity.
● Example of recessive lethals is as seen in
the case of a Manx cat.
Dominant lethals
● These are the alleles whose presence is required in one copy in
an entity for them to turn fatal.
● These are not so frequently found as they cause the death of an
entity before they are transmitted to their offspring.
● A good example of dominant lethal alleles that is seen in humans
is the rare – Huntington’s disease.
Balanced lethals
● In a self permanent stock, the balancing effect between two
different lethals is the balanced lethal system.
● The lethal genes that are associated in the repulsion stage of
linkage are balanced lethals.
● This lethal system sustains genes associated closely with the
lethal genes in a permanent heterozygous state.
● Such lethals are observed in Drosophila, mice, etc.
Gametic lethals
● Gametic lethals are the ones that make the gametes
incompetent to fertilize.
● Meiotic drive is often used to describe these types of
lethals.
● This drive is a series of events which causes the
production of unequal numbers by a heterozygote of
functional gametes.
Thank you