Which statement best describes a transmittable gene effect?

Which statement best describes a transmittable gene effect?

• A. Environmental effects that are inherited.
• B. Only the genetic effects that are associated with individual alleles can be predictably transmitted to the progeny (additive, BV, or EPD)
• C. All genetic effects including dominance and epistasis.
• D. Non-genetic inheritance.

Answer: (B)

The idea is that only the part of genetic merit that adds up from the alleles themselves is reliably passed to offspring. Additive genetic effects, coming from individual alleles and summing across loci, are inherited in a predictable way from parents to progeny. This is why breeders focus on breeding value and predicted progeny difference—BV and EPD are measures of that additive, transmissible component. Non-additive effects like dominance (allele interactions at the same locus) and epistasis (interactions between loci) don’t transmit in a straightforward, predictable manner, so they aren’t described as transmittable in the same sense. Environmental effects and non-genetic inheritance aren’t genetic transmission to offspring, so they don’t fit as transmittable gene effects.

The idea is that only the part of genetic merit that adds up from the alleles themselves is reliably passed to offspring. Additive genetic effects, coming from individual alleles and summing across loci, are inherited in a predictable way from parents to progeny. This is why breeders focus on breeding value and predicted progeny difference—BV and EPD are measures of that additive, transmissible component. Non-additive effects like dominance (allele interactions at the same locus) and epistasis (interactions between loci) don’t transmit in a straightforward, predictable manner, so they aren’t described as transmittable in the same sense. Environmental effects and non-genetic inheritance aren’t genetic transmission to offspring, so they don’t fit as transmittable gene effects.