What is the difference between autosomal and sex- linked?
Biology · High School · Wed Jan 13 2021
Answered on
Answer: Autosomal traits are controlled by genes on one of the 22 pairs of human autosomes. Autosomes are all the chromosomes except the X or Y chromosome , and they do not differ between males and females, so autosomal traits are inherited in the same way regardless of the sex of the parent or offspring.
- Traits controlled by genes on the sex chromosomes are called sex-linked traits. Because of the small size of the Y
chromosome, most sex-linked traits are controlled by genes on the Xchromosome . These traits are called X-linked traits. Single-geneX-linked traits have a different pattern of inheritance than single-gene autosomal traits because males have just one Xchromosome. Males always inherit their Xchromosome from their mother, and they pass on their Xchromosome to all of their daughters but none of their sons.