Consider the following hypothetical genetics information for cottontail rabbits: Ear length is controlled by one pair of co-dominant alleles (E = allele for long ears; E' = allele for short ears) located on rabbit chromosome #11. Eye color is controlled by one pair of dominant and recessive alleles (H = dom. for hazel eyes; h = rec. for dark brown eyes) located on rabbit chromosome #8. Finally, ability to produce an enzyme to digest staghorn sumac bark (sumacerase) is controlled by one pair of dominant and recessive alleles (S = dom. for production of sumacerase; s = rec. for no sumacerase production) located on rabbit chromosome #11.
Which, if any, of these three traits would be considered independent of the others & why?
Given the following cross EE' Ss hh X E'E' ss Hh, I state the phenotype of each parent and predict the percentage of offspring that would be expected to have short ears and hazel eye color.