[Campbell Biology P.330] What is the key difference between polygenic inheritance and pleiot... | Practice Question

What is the key difference between polygenic inheritance and pleiotropy?

  • A: Polygenic inheritance involves multiple genes affecting one trait, while pleiotropy involves one gene affecting multiple traits.
  • B: Polygenic inheritance is an example of epistasis, while pleiotropy is not.
  • C: Pleiotropy involves multiple genes affecting one trait, while polygenic inheritance involves one gene affecting multiple traits.
  • D: Polygenic inheritance only occurs in plants, while pleiotropy only occurs in animals.

Explanation

The text explicitly states that polygenic inheritance is 'an additive effect of two or more genes on a single phenotypic character,' and contrasts this by mentioning it is the 'converse of pleiotropy, where a single gene affects several phenotypic characters.' This highlights the core distinction: the direction of influence between genes and traits many-to-one vs. one-to-many .