What phenotypic ratio is observed for black mice to white mice in a certain cross?

In genetics, the phenotypic ratio observed in a certain cross often reflects the underlying genotypic combinations of the parents involved. In the case of black and white mice, if we consider the black color to be dominant (indicated by a dominant allele) and white color to be recessive (indicated by a recessive allele), a traditional monohybrid cross can illustrate the expected phenotypic ratio.

If two heterozygous black mice (Bb) are crossed, where 'B' represents the black allele and 'b' represents the white allele, the potential offspring would inherit the alleles as follows:

• BB (homozygous dominant): black

• Bb (heterozygous): black

• bb (homozygous recessive): white

The resulting genotypes would produce the following combinations:

• 1 BB

• 2 Bb

• 1 bb

This results in three offspring exhibiting the black phenotype (BB and Bb) and one offspring exhibiting the white phenotype (bb), yielding a phenotypic ratio of 3 black to 1 white. Therefore, the 3:1 ratio confirms the expected inheritance pattern seen in Mendelian genetics for a trait governed by a single pair of