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Trihybrid Cross Calculator - Punnett Square

Created by Łucja Zaborowska, MD, PhD candidate
Reviewed by Anna Szczepanek, PhD and Steven Wooding
Last updated: Jan 18, 2024


The trihybrid cross calculator creates a Punnett square with 3 traits and 6 alleles.
Our tool will also supply you with a detailed probability of all possible genes & traits combinations, as well as the short explanation of the most essential rules that we need to follow in genetics. 🧬

On top of that, we'll show you:

  • How to do a trihybrid cross.
  • How to create trihybrid cross ratios for both genotype and phenotype of the expected offspring.

💡 Dig into the topic:

Classic Punnett square calculator (1 trait) 💠
Dihybrid cross Punnett square calculator (2 traits)

What is a trihybrid Punnett square?

Let's start with the basics — the Punnett square is a simple, 4-boxes board that allows us to show the inheritance of a given trait.

♂️\♀️

A

a

A

AA

Aa

a

Aa

aa

Unfortunately, we, humans, just love to make things complicated. We decided to calculate & show the inheritance of 3 or more traits — and that's when our trihybrid cross Punnett square calculator came in handy.

The three traits Punnett square is a minimalist's nightmare — it consists of 64 boxes and depends on 12 alleles of 3 genes. To compute the offspring's genotype, we use information about two parents, each having exactly 6 alleles.

💡 Let's imagine that a mother of a child has black, curly hair and brown eyes, while the father's hair is red, straight, and his eyes are brown.

When we use the trihybrid Punnett square generator, we can tell the exact probability that the child will inherit all 3 traits from its mother or father and determine the frequency of all their combinations.

Trihybrid Punnett square is not just a nice presentation of data — it allows us to compute both the trihybrid cross ratios and the percentage of a given trait version's probability (e.g., we answer the question: what's the probability that my child will inherit all 3 of these traits?).

Want to see a Punnett square in action? 🤓 Check the blood type calculator.

How to use the trihybrid cross calculator?

This kind of Punnett square works only for autosomal genes, inherited by Mendelian rules. Follow our short instructions to get the fullest out of our trihybrid cross-ratio calculator!

  1. Choose the mother's traits. You may take one of three options:

    • aa — Homozygous recessive; both of the mother's alleles are recessive.
    • AA — Homozygous dominant; both of the mother's alleles are dominant.
    • Aa — Heterozygous; one of the mother's alleles is dominant, and one is recessive.

    Repeat the process for traits B and C.

  2. Follow the same pattern for father's traits.

  3. Enjoy your results! 🎉 Our trihybrid cross-ratio calculator will display:

    a) Occurrence of a given genotype in percentages;

    b) A ready-to-go Punnett square with 3 traits; and

    c) A table of how genotype affects the phenotype.

How to do a trihybrid cross Punnett square?

The three trait Punnett square might be quite a challenge! Just to remind you, we're dealing with:

  • A giant, 8×8 table of results;
  • 64 possible sets of crosses in each try;
  • 27 possible genotypes;
  • 8 possible mother's alleles combinations;
  • 8 possible father's alleles combinations; and
  • 729 possible Punnett square trihybrid cross examples!

That's why our trihybrid cross calculator is an essential must. 😱 However, we still decided to place here some instructions to let you better understand the process.

  1. First, you need to choose all your three traits and their alleles — dominant (AA), recessive (aa), mixed (Aa). You need to repeat the process 6 times, for each of the mother's and father's trait.

  2. Second, you find the possible alleles combinations of a given parent.

    If your mother's alleles are: aaBbCC, their possible combinations are:

    • aBC
    • abC

    Repeat the process for the second parent.

  3. Third, combine your 1st parent's possible combinations with your 2nd parent's possible combinations, using a Punnett square with 3 traits and 64 fields.

Here's the Punnett square trihybrid cross example for your reference:

♂️\♀️

ABC

ABc

AbC

Abc

aBC

aBc

abC

abc

ABC

AABBCC

AABBCc

AABbCC

AABbCc

AaBBCC

AaBBCc

AaBbCC

AaBbCc

ABc

AABBCc

AABBcc

AABbCc

AABbcc

AaBBCc

AaBBcc

AaBbCc

AaBbcc

AbC

AABbCC

AABbCc

AAbbCC

AAbbCc

AaBbCC

AaBbCc

AabbCC

AabbCc

Abc

AABbCc

AABbcc

AAbbCc

AAbbcc

AaBbCc

AaBbcc

AabbCc

Aabbcc

aBC

AaBBCC

AaBBCc

AaBbCC

AaBbCc

aaBBCC

aaBBCc

aaBbCC

aaBbCc

aBc

AaBBCc

AaBBcc

AaBbCc

AaBbcc

aaBBCc

aaBBcc

aaBbCc

aaBbcc

abC

AaBbCC

AaBbCc

AabbCC

AabbCc

aaBbCC

aaBbCc

aabbCC

aabbCc

abc

AaBbCc

AaBbcc

AabbCc

Aabbcc

aaBbCc

aaBbcc

aabbCc

aabbcc

The parent's alleles look as follows:

  • Mother: AaBbCc
  • Father: AaBbCc

Try our trihybrid cross calculator and find out the other 728 options!

FAQ

What is a trihybrid cross Punnett square?

A trihybrid cross is a type of Punnett square generated for 3 traits. This kind of Punnett square is a table of 64 boxes, created with the combinations of 6 mother's and 6 father's alleles.

What is the trihybrid cross Punnett square used for?

Trihybrid cross Punnett square is used to establish the probability of the combination of 3 different traits. For example, we may find out the chances of giving birth to a child with blue eyes, dark hair, and B blood type.

How many boxes are there in the trihybrid cross Punnett square?

There are 64 boxes in a trihybrid cross Punnett square. A Punnett square with 3 traits also contains:

  • A giant, 8×8 table of results;
  • 27 possible genotypes;
  • 8 possible mother's alleles combination;
  • 8 possible father's alleles combinations; and
  • 729 possible trihybrid cross versions!

How to calculate genotype probability?

It's easier than it seems!

  1. Do the Punnett square.

  2. Count how many times a given genotype is present in your table (e.g., 2).

  3. Find out the total number of combinations in a table (e.g., 64).

  4. Divide the number of your genotype by the total number of combinations (e.g., 2/64). To make it a percentage, multiply it by 100.

    Genotype probability = Number of genotypes in the table/ total number of combinations × 100

  5. Yay, you got it! 🎉

Łucja Zaborowska, MD, PhD candidate
Try out the regular Punnett square calculator, or the dihybrid cross version! 🏷

A, B, C - Dominant alleles

a, b, c - Recessive alleles
Mother's trait 1
Aa
Mother's trait 2
Bb
Mother's trait 3
Cc
Father's trait 1
Aa
Father's trait 2
Bb
Father's trait 3
Cc
Offspring genotype frequency
AABBCC
1.56
%
AABBCc
3.13
%
AABBcc
1.56
%
AABbCC
3.13
%
AABbCc
6.25
%
AABbcc
3.13
%
AAbbCC
1.56
%
AAbbCc
3.13
%
AAbbcc
1.56
%
AaBBCC
3.13
%
AaBBCc
6.25
%
AaBBcc
3.13
%
AaBbCC
6.25
%
AaBbCc
12.50
%
AaBbcc
6.25
%
AabbCC
3.13
%
AabbCc
6.25
%
Aabbcc
3.13
%
aaBBCC
1.56
%
aaBBCc
3.13
%
aaBBcc
1.56
%
aaBbCC
3.13
%
aaBbCc
6.25
%
aaBbcc
3.13
%
aabbCC
1.56
%
aabbCc
3.13
%
aabbcc
1.56
%
Punnett square
♂️\♀️ABCABcAbCAbcaBCaBcabCabc
ABCAABBCCAABBCcAABbCCAABbCcAaBBCCAaBBCcAaBbCCAaBbCc
ABcAABBCcAABBccAABbCcAABbccAaBBCcAaBBccAaBbCcAaBbcc
AbCAABbCCAABbCcAAbbCCAAbbCcAaBbCCAaBbCcAabbCCAabbCc
AbcAABbCcAABbccAAbbCcAAbbccAaBbCcAaBbccAabbCcAabbcc
aBCAaBBCCAaBBCcAaBbCCAaBbCcaaBBCCaaBBCcaaBbCCaaBbCc
aBcAaBBCcAaBBccAaBbCcAaBbccaaBBCcaaBBccaaBbCcaaBbcc
abCAaBbCCAaBbCcAabbCCAabbCcaaBbCCaaBbCcaabbCCaabbCc
abcAaBbCcAaBbccAabbCcAabbccaaBbCcaaBbccaabbCcaabbcc
Phenotype and Genotype
ResultGenotypePhenotype
AABBCCAABBCCABC
AABbCCAABbCCABC
AaBBCCAaBBCCABC
AaBbCCAaBbCCABC
AAbbCCAAbbCCAbC
AabbCCAabbCCAbC
aaBBCCaaBBCCaBC
aaBbCCaaBbCCaBC
aabbCCaabbCCabC
AABBCcAABBCcABC
AABbCcAABbCcABC
AaBBCcAaBBCcABC
AaBbCcAaBbCcABC
AAbbCcAAbbCcAbC
AabbCcAabbCcAbC
aaBBCcaaBBCcaBC
aaBbCcaaBbCcaBC
aabbCcaabbCcabC
AABBccAABBccABc
AABbccAABbccABc
AaBBccAaBBccABc
AaBbccAaBbccABc
AAbbccAAbbccAbc
AabbccAabbccAbc
aaBBccaaBBccaBc
aaBbccaaBbccaBc
aabbccaabbccabc
Check out 5 similar genetics calculators 🧬
Allele frequencyDihybrid cross Punnett squareDNA copy number… 2 more
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