Fthe problem gives you the phenotypic ratios of offspring but not the genotypes of the parents in a given cross, the phenotypes can you deduce the parents’ unknown genotypes.
a. for example, if 1/2 of the offspring have the recessive phenotype and 1/2 the dominant, you know that the cross was between a heterozygote and a homozygous recessive.
b. if the ratio is 3: 1, the cross was between two heterozygotes.
c. if two genes are involved and you see a 9: 3: 3: 1 ratio in the offspring, you know that each parent is heterozygous for both genes. caution: don’t assume that the reported numbers will exactly equal the predicted ratios. for example, if there are 13 offspring with the dominant trait and 11 with the recessive, assume that the ratio is one dominant to one recessive