Father’s blood group is A and mother’s blood group is B. One of their offspring is with group AB. What is the percentage of probability of AB blood group offspring?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → 25%
Note: Option (3) 50% is also correct. The question does not give the parents’ genotypes: the answer is 25% when both parents are heterozygous (IAi × IBi) and 50% when one parent is homozygous (IAIA × IBi or IAi × IBIB).
The ABO blood group is controlled by the gene I, which has three alleles: IA, IB and i. IA and IB are co-dominant, so a person with both shows blood group AB. The allele i is recessive. So blood group A can be IAIA or IAi, and blood group B can be IBIB or IBi.
Both parents heterozygous: IAi × IBi. Gametes: IA, i from the father and IB, i from the mother.
| IB | i | |
|---|---|---|
| IA | IAIB (AB) | IAi (A) |
| i | IBi (B) | ii (O) |
One box in four is AB: 1/4 = 25%.
Option (1) NIL — Incorrect. An AB child has already been born, so the father carries IA and the mother carries IB. The chance of AB can never be zero.
Option (2) 25% — Correct. This is the chance when both parents are heterozygous, as the square shows.
Option (3) 50% — Also correct. If one parent is homozygous (say IAIA × IBi), the father gives IA every time and the mother gives IB half the time, so half the children are AB.
Option (4) 75% — Incorrect. No cross of an A parent with a B parent gives three AB children in four. The chance is 25%, 50% or, with both parents homozygous, 100%.
NCERT Extract:
Co-dominance – “… The gene (I) has three alleles IA, IB and i. The alleles IA and IB produce a slightly different form of the sugar while allele i does not produce any sugar. Because humans are diploid organisms, each person possesses any two of the three I gene alleles. IA and IB are completely dominant over i, in other words when IA and i are present only IA expresses (because i does not produce any sugar), and when IB and i are present IB expresses. But when IA and IB are present together they both express their own types of sugars: this is because of co-dominance.”