Chapter 14: Mendelian Genetics!!

• Trait: some aspect of an organism that can be described or measured

• Gene: discrete unit of hereditary information or a specific sequence of DNA that codes for a protein

• Allele: alternative versions of a gene– Ex: red vs. white flowers; A, B, or O

blood group instructions

GENETICS VOCABULARY

• Genotype: an organisms actual genetic make up or set of alleles– Ex: HbS HbS or Hbs Hbs

• Phenotype: physical or physiological characteristics of an organism which is determined by the genotype– Normal Hb or sickle cell Hb; Blue eyes;

brown feathers; 5 fingers on a hand

GENETICS VOCABULARY

• Homozygous: an individual that inherits 2 identical alleles for a gene– Ex: BB or bb

• Heterozygous: an individual that inherits 2 different alleles for a gene– Ex: Bb– Also called “hybrid”

• Dominant: an allele that is fully expressed in the phenotype of a heterozygote– Ex: B = Black and b = white; BB or Bb results in

black coloration– WARNING: Dominant does NOT mean the allele

occurs more frequently!• Recessive: an allele that is not observed in the

phenotype of a heterozygote– Ex: only see white coloration when inherit bb

GENETICS VOCABULARY

How are traits inherited? • For a very long time, scientists

assumed that offspring were a result of blending of traits of their parents.

• Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, applied mathematics to his study of genetics.

• He chose to study the garden pea plant to investigate how traits were passed from generation to generation.

• He chose pea plants because they can self-fertilize and traits appear in 2 distinct forms (alleles). – Ex: short or tall…no intermediate height.

• Mendel studied 7 different traits:– Seed shape– Seed color– Pod color – Plant height– Flower color– Pod shape– Flower position

• Mendel crossed pure-breeding or true-breeding plants with one another. – Homozygous dominant (TT)

x Homozygous recessive (tt)

“P” generation

• The result was hybrid plants (Tt)– ½ “tall” & ½ “short” genetic

instructions

• These hybrid offspring are called the F1 generation

– Punnett Squares show the probability of having offspring with a certain trait

• After seeing that all the F1 generation was tall, Mendel wondered if the recessive “short” allele had disappeared

• He then allowed the F1 plants to self-pollinate and reproduce (Tt x Tt)…

– Result = F2 generation

(inside square)

*The short allele was still there!

Mendel’s results led to the following principles:

1. Each trait (like height) is controlled by a gene. Since most traits have 2 or more forms (tall and short), there must be a tall version of the gene and a short version of the gene (alleles).

2. Each organism has to inherit 2 alleles, one from each parent

3. Dominant vs. Recessive

4. Law of Segregation: the 2 alleles must separate when gametes (sex cells) are formed. The gametes only contain one allele for each trait. At fertilization, the single alleles are joined to make a pair in the offspring

5. Law of Independent Assortment: how the chromosomes separate during meiosis is random and this produces many different combinations of gametes.

• Traits are inherited independent of each other. – For example, in pea plants, the allele for

tallness may be inherited with the allele for yellow seed color, or the allele for green seed color. This is because the separation of the chromosomes during meiosis is random and produces many combinations of chromosomes.

Which of the following is an example of a genotype?

A. Bb

B. Black hair

C. Hair color

D. B

E. Both B and D

Which of the following is an example of an allele?

A. Bb

B. Black hair

C. Hair color

D. B

E. Both B and D

Which of the following is an example of a phenotype?

A. Bb

B. Black hair

C. Hair color

D. B

What does Mendel’s Law of Independent Assortment state?

A. Every pair of chromosomes separates during meiosis

B. Every pair of genes separates during meiosis

C. Every pair of chromosomes lines up randomly on the metaphase plate

D. Every gamete has an equal chance of being fertilized

Which of the following is a hybrid?A. Bb

B. BB

C. bb

D. b