Do scientists have any ideas why penetrance can be less than the expected 100%?
Yes, it’s possible that a lower penetrance can result from the interaction of one or more “background” genes with the mnd gene. Have there been studies that suggest that this interaction is possible? Yes, we do know that some genes need other genes in order to function properly. But we don’t know if that’s the reason in the case of this fungal gene, although that’s my hypothesis. How do you start to solve the puzzle? Now that I’ve determined the penetrance rate of the mound gene, I’m undertaking a series of backcrosses to the non-mound parent. This process begins by mating a fungus that has the mnd (mound) gene with one that doesn’t. (We also assume the non-mnd fungus does contain suppressor background genes.) The offspring are then mated (backcrossed) with the original healthy parent. From there, each new set of offspring is backcrossed with the original healthy parent. The purpose of the backcross process is to enrich each successive generation with the background gene(s) affecting p
