The traits produced by a gene can be characterized as dominant or recessive. Dominant traits can be expressed when only one copy of the gene for that trait is present. Recessive traits carried on autosomal chromosomes can be expressed only when two copies of the gene are present (because the gene on the paired chromosome is usually expressed instead). People with one copy of an abnormal gene for a recessive trait (and who thus do not have the disorder) are called carriers. With codominant traits, both copies of a gene are expressed to some extent. An example of a codominant trait is blood type. If a person has one gene coding for blood type A and one gene coding for blood type B, the person has both blood types (blood type AB).

Whether a gene is X-linked (sex-linked) also determines expression. Among males, almost all genes on the X chromosome, whether the trait is dominant or recessive, are expressed because there is no paired gene to offset their expression.

Penetrance and Expressivity: Penetrance refers to how often a trait is expressed in people with the gene for that trait. Penetrance may be complete or incomplete. A gene with incomplete penetrance is not always expressed even when the trait it produces is dominant or when the trait is recessive and present on both chromosomes. If half the people with a gene show its trait, its penetrance is said to be 50%. Expressivity refers to how much a trait affects a person—whether the person is greatly, moderately, or mildly affected.

How Genes Affect People: Penetrance and Expressivity People who have the same gene may be affected differently. Two terms explain these differences: penetrance and expressivity. Penetrance refers to whether the gene is expressed or not. That is, it refers to how many people with the gene have the trait associated with the gene. Penetrance is complete (100%) if everyone with the gene has the trait. Penetrance is incomplete if only some people with the gene have the trait. For example, 50% penetrance means that only half the people with the gene have the trait. Expressivity determines how much the trait affects (or, is expressed in) a person. A trait may be very pronounced, barely noticeable, or in between. Various factors, including genetic makeup, exposure to harmful substances, other environmental influences, and age, can affect expressivity. Both penetrance and expressivity can vary. People with the gene may or may not have the trait, and in people with the trait, how the trait appears varies.

Inheritance Patterns

Many genetic disorders, particularly those involving traits controlled by multiple genes or those that are highly susceptible to environmental influences, do not have an obvious pattern of inheritance. However, some single-gene disorders display characteristic patterns, particularly when penetrance is high and expressivity is full. In such cases, patterns can be identified based on whether the trait is dominant or recessive, and whether the gene is X-linked or carried on a mitochondrial chromosome.

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Examples of Genetic Disorders Gene Dominant Recessive Non—X-linked Marfan's syndrome Huntington's disease Cystic fibrosis X-linked Familial rickets Hereditary nephritis Red–green color blindness Hemophilia

Non–X-Linked Inheritance

Dominant Disorders: The following principles generally apply to dominant disorders determined by a dominant non–X-linked gene:

• When one parent has the disorder and the other does not, each child has a 50% chance of inheriting the disorder.
• People who do not have the disorder usually do not carry the gene and thus do not pass the trait on to their offspring.
• Males and females are equally likely to be affected.
• Many people with the disorder have at least one parent with the disorder. However, sometimes the disorder arises as a new genetic mutation.

Recessive Disorders: The following principles generally apply to recessive disorders determined by a recessive non–X-linked gene:

Non–X-Linked Recessive Disorders Some disorders represent a non–X-linked recessive trait. To have the disorder, a person usually must receive two abnormal genes, one from each parent. If both parents carry one abnormal gene and one normal gene, neither has the disorder but each has a 50% chance of passing the abnormal gene to their children. Therefore, each child has a 25% chance of inheriting two abnormal genes (and thus of developing the disorder), a 25% chance of inheriting two normal genes, and a 50% chance of inheriting one normal and one abnormal gene (thus becoming a carrier of the disorder like the parents). Therefore, among the children, the chance of not developing the disorder (that is, being normal or a carrier) is 75%.

• Virtually everyone with the disorder has parents who both carry the abnormal gene, even though usually neither parent has the disorder (because two copies of the abnormal gene are necessary for the gene to be expressed).
• Single mutations are less likely to result in the disorder than in dominantly inherited disorders (because expression in recessive disorders requires that both genes be abnormal).
• When one parent has the disorder and the other parent carries one abnormal gene but does not have the disorder, half of their children are likely to have the disorder. Their other children will be carriers with one abnormal gene. If the parent without the disorder does not carry the abnormal gene, none of the children will have the disorder, but all of the children will inherit and carry an abnormal gene that they may pass on to their offspring.
• A person who does not have the disorder and whose parents do not have it but whose siblings do have it has a 66% chance of being a carrier of the abnormal gene.
• Males and females are equally likely to be affected.

X-Linked Inheritance

Dominant Disorders: The following principles generally apply to dominant disorders determined by a dominant X-linked gene:

• Affected males transmit the disorder to all of their daughters but to none of their sons. (The sons of the affected male receive his Y chromosome, which does not carry the abnormal gene.)
• Affected females with only one abnormal gene transmit the disorder to, on average, half their children, regardless of sex.
• Many X-linked dominant disorders are lethal among affected males. Among females, even though the gene is dominant, having a second normal gene on the other X chromosome offsets the effect of the dominant gene to some extent, decreasing the severity of the resulting disorder.
• More females have the disorder than males. The difference between the sexes is even larger if the disorder is lethal in males.

Dominant X-linked severe diseases are rare. Examples are familial rickets (familial hypophosphatemic rickets—see Tubular and Cystic Kidney Disorders: Hypophosphatemic Rickets) and hereditary nephritis (Alport's syndrome—see Kidney Filtering Disorders: Hereditary Nephritis (Alport's Syndrome)). Females with hereditary rickets have fewer bone symptoms than do affected males. Females with hereditary nephritis usually have no symptoms and little abnormality of kidney function, whereas affected males develop kidney failure in early adult life.

Recessive Disorders: The following principles generally apply to recessive disorders determined by a recessive X-linked gene:

• Nearly everyone affected is male.
• All daughters of an affected male will carry the abnormal gene.
• Normally, an affected male does not transmit the disorder to his sons.
• Females who carry the gene do not have the disorder (unless they have the abnormal gene on both X chromosomes or there is inactivation of the other normal chromosome). However, they transmit the gene to half their sons, who usually have the disorder. Their daughters, like their mothers, usually do not have the disorder, but half are carriers.

An example of a common X-linked recessive trait is red–green color blindness, which affects about 10% of males but is unusual among females. In males, the gene for color blindness comes from a mother who usually has normal vision but is a carrier of the color-blind gene. It never comes from the father, who instead supplies the Y chromosome. Daughters of color-blind fathers are rarely color-blind but are always carriers of the color-blind gene. An example of a serious disease caused by an X-linked recessive gene is hemophilia.

X-Linked Recessive Disorders If a gene is X-linked, it is present on the X chromosome. Recessive X-linked disorders usually develop only in males. This male-only development occurs because males have only one X chromosome, so there is no paired gene to offset the effect of the abnormal gene. Females have two X chromosomes, so they usually receive a normal or offsetting gene on the second X chromosome. The normal or offsetting gene normally prevents females from developing the disorder (unless the offsetting gene is inactivated or lost). If the father has the abnormal X-linked gene (and thus the disorder) and the mother has two normal genes, all of their daughters receive one abnormal gene and one normal gene, making them carriers. None of their sons receive the abnormal gene because they receive the father's Y chromosome. If the mother is a carrier and the father has the normal gene, any son has a 50% chance of receiving the abnormal gene from the mother (and developing the disorder). Any daughter has a 50% chance of receiving one abnormal gene and one normal gene (becoming a carrier) or a 50% chance of receiving two normal genes.

Abnormal Mitochondrial Genes

Several rare diseases are caused by abnormal genes carried by the chromosome inside a mitochondrion. An example is Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, which causes a variable but often devastating loss of vision in both eyes that typically occurs during the teenage years. Another example is a disorder characterized by type 2 diabetes and deafness.

Because the father generally cannot pass mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) to the child, diseases caused by abnormal mitochondrial genes are almost always transmitted by the mother. However, not all mitochondrial disorders are caused by abnormal mitochondrial genes (some are caused by genes in the cell nucleus that affect the mitochondria). Thus, the father's DNA may contribute to some mitochondrial disorders.

Unlike the DNA in the nucleus of cells, the number of abnormal mitochondrial DNA occasionally varies from cell to cell throughout the body. Thus, an abnormal mitochondrial gene in one body cell does not necessarily mean it will cause disease in another cell. Even when two people seem to have the same mitochondrial gene abnormality, the expression of disease may be very different in the two people. This variation makes genetic testing and genetic counseling of limited value in making predictions for people with known or suspected mitochondrial gene abnormalities.

Last full review/revision August 2007 by Judith G. Hall, MD