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Handout - Mendelian Genetics

Gregor Mendel conducted experiments with pea plants in the mid-1800s to study heredity and developed the principles of genetics. He found that pea plants were well-suited subjects as they were inexpensive, easy to control, produced many offspring, and had distinct characteristics. Through cross-breeding pure-breeding pea plants and observing the traits expressed in offspring over multiple generations, Mendel discovered that traits are passed from parents to offspring through discrete units (now known as genes) and proposed the laws of inheritance including dominance, segregation, independent assortment, and recombination. His work formed the foundation of classical genetics.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
113 views41 pages

Handout - Mendelian Genetics

Gregor Mendel conducted experiments with pea plants in the mid-1800s to study heredity and developed the principles of genetics. He found that pea plants were well-suited subjects as they were inexpensive, easy to control, produced many offspring, and had distinct characteristics. Through cross-breeding pure-breeding pea plants and observing the traits expressed in offspring over multiple generations, Mendel discovered that traits are passed from parents to offspring through discrete units (now known as genes) and proposed the laws of inheritance including dominance, segregation, independent assortment, and recombination. His work formed the foundation of classical genetics.

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Ayah Abusafia
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Gregor

 Mendel:  
1823-­‐1884  

Mendelian  Genetics  
The  study  of  Heredity  

1  
Genetics  
I.  Genetics  is  the  Study  of  heredity    (the  transmission  of  
traits  from  generation  to  generation).  

 Genetics  began  with  the  work  of  Gregor  Mendel.    


Mendel  developed  basic  principals  of  heredity  with  
NO    knowledge  of  genes  or  chromosomes.  
 
 Mendel  worked  with  pea  plants.    
         Why  peas  ?  

2
Pea  plants  :  
•       are  inexpensive  
•       reproduction  is  easy  to  control    
•       Produce  many  offspring  
•       Pea  plants  have  contrasting      
 characteristics  
 
Contrasting  characteristics  include:  
•       Seeds  –  round  or  wrinkled  
•       Seed  Color  –  yellow  or  green  
•       Height  –  TALL  or  short  
•       Flowers  –    white  or  purple  
•       pod  color  –  yellow  or  green  
•       Etc.  
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Mendel  Developed  Principles  of  

1.  Dominance:    one  form  of  a  hereditary  trait  


dominates  or  prevents  the  expression  of  the  
recessive  trait.  
2.  Segregation:    Splitting  of  chromosomes  
during  meiosis  
3.  Recombination:    Combining  chromosomes  
from  both  the  sperm  and  egg  (fertilization)  
4.  Independent  Assortment:    Independent  
segregation  of  genes  during  the  formation  of  
gametes.  

5
Pea  Plant  Characteristics  

§  Mendel  determined  that  since  peas  


reproduce  sexually,  there  must  be  two  
“characters”  (called  alleles)  that  in=luence  
each  trait.    (one  from  the  egg  and  one  
from  the  sperm).  
§  Alleles  are  represented  by  letters.  

6
Working  with  Pea  Plants  –  
The  Next  Generation  

7
Mendel’s  Work  
Mendel  began  by  cross-­‐pollinating  pure  plants  with  
contrasting  traits.  
           

       Ex.        pure  tall    X    pure  short  


                 TT                  tt  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mendel  then  observed  the  offspring  or  1st  Rilial  generation  
(F1),    and  noticed  only  one  trait  (they  were  all  tall)   8
9
TT  x  tt  

 
 
T   T  
t  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

t  
 
 
 
 
 
  10
Mendel’s  Work  
 
Mendel  then  used  two  of  these  F1  tall  plants  and  
crossed  them.  (incest)  
 
   Ex.    F1  tall      x      F1  tall  
     (Tt)                  (Tt)  

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Tt  x  Tt  

 
 
T   t  
T  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

t  
 
 
 
 
 
  12
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From  this  F1  cross  he  observed  both  traits  in  the  
offspring  (2nd  Rilial  generation  –  F2),  but  in  an  
unequal  proportion    
 
 (75%  tall  and  25%  short)    or    
 (3  tall  :  1  short)  
 
Mendel  determined  that  one  form  of  the  trait  is  
dominant  over  the  other  recessive  trait  (Tall  is  
dominant  over  short)  
     
Parents    pure  tall      X      pure  short  
     
     F1                  all  tall  
       
     F2        3  tall  :  1  short 14
Law  of  Dominance  –  one  form  of  a  hereditary  trait  
dominates  or  prevents  the  expression  of  the  recessive  
trait.  
 Dominant  allele  =  capital  letter  
 Recessive  allele  =  lower  case  letter  
       
     Ex.    tall  =  T  
 
                     short  =  t
 

•       Parents  have    2    alleles  (2n)  Diploid  


•       Gametes  have  1  allele  (1n)  Monoploid  
• (half  due  to  meiosis)        
 

 Review  of  dominance  :  


     TT  =  tall  
     Tt    =  tall  
     tt    =  short  
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Genetic  Terms    
 
1.       Dominance-­‐    The  dominant  gene  in  an  allelic  pair  
is  expressed  (seen).    It  masks  the  recessive  allele  
(unseen).    Represented  by  a  CAPITAL  letter  

2.       Recessive-­‐  the    trait  that  is  masked  by  the  


dominant  characteristic.    Represented  by  a  
lowercase  letter.  

3.       Allele  –  the  dominant  or  recessive  form  of  a  gene.    


You  inherit  one  allele  from  mom  and  one  from  dad  

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4.   Genotype  –  the  genetic  make  up  of  an  individual.                          
     ex.  TT,    Tt,    tt      
 
       a.  Homozygous  –  (pure)    both  alleles  are  the  same  
       ex.  TT  –  tall    
           tt  –  short  
 
     b.  Heterozygous-­‐  (hybrid)    possessing  two  
 different  alleles  for  the  same  trait  
 
       ex.    Tt    

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5.      Phenotype  –  The  appearance  of  the  offspring  
(you  can  see  the  phenotype)  

Genotype   Phenotype  

TT   Tall  

Tt   Tall  

tt   Short  
Mendel’s  2nd  Law:  
 Segregation  and  Recombination  
 
Gametes  formed  during  meiosis  separate  alleles  so  
that  each  gamete  contains  only  one  gene  for  each  
trait.    At  fertilization  the  alleles  combine  to  form  new  
combinations.  
   
Mendel  tested  this  hypothesis  by  predicting  the  
outcome  of  crosses  he  never  did  before  
   

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Punnett  square  –  used  to  predict  the  outcome  of  
genetics  crosses  
1n
Tt gametes
2n
parents
T t

T TT Tt Each  box  
represents  
Tt
a  possible  
t Tt tt offspring  

1n
gametes
Mendel  would  predict  that  ¾  would  be  
tall  and  ¼  would  be  short   20
Hybrid  Cross  –  When  two  heterozygotes  are  
crossed,  there  are  3  possible  genotypes  which  occur  
in  a          1  :  2  :  1    ratio.  
 
 1    Homozygous  Dominant  
 2    Heterozygous  Dominant  
 1    Homozygous  Recessive  
 
 The  phenotypic  ratios  are      3    :    1      
 3    Dominant        :        1    Recessive  

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It  is  not  possible  to  tell  the  appearance  if  an  individual  is  
showing  a  dominant  trait  that  is  pure  (BB)  or  hybrid  (Bb).    
Therefore  you  must  perform  a  test  cross  
 
Test  Cross  –  To  determine  the  genotype  of  an  organism  
showing  a  dominant  phenotype,    cross  the  organism  with  a  
recessive  individual.      If  any  recessive  offspring  are  produced  
the  individual  is  heterozygous.  
 

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Ex.      Lets  do  a  test  for  eye  color  Bb  or  BB  
B=Brown        b=blue          

     
•    BB  x  bb  =  100%  brown  

•    Bb  x  bb  =  50%  brown  50%  blue  


V.        Codominance    –    some  traits  are  controlled  by  2  
different  dominant  alleles.    Both  alleles  are  
dominant,  and  there  are  two  dominant  
phenotypes.    A  heterozygote  expresses  both  
phenotypes  at  the  same  time.  
 
Ex.  coat  color  in  cattle.  
 
 CR  CR  =  red  coat  
 CW  CW  =  white  coat  
 CR  CW  =  roan  coat  
 
Roan  is  a  mixture  of  red  and  white  hairs  that  give  a  
brownish  appearance  called  roan.  

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Ex.      Lets  do  a  test  for  coat  color  
R  =  Red        W  =  White    
VI.        Incomplete  dominance  –  (blending  
 inheritance)  sometimes  an  allele  is  only  
 partly  dominant  over  another.  
 
 In  a  heterozygote  the  dominant  allele  is  only  
partially  expressed  and  the  phenotype  is  between  
the  two  homozygous  forms.  
   
Ex.        Snap  dragons  or  Japanese  4    o’clock        
 Rlowers.  
 
     RR  =  red  
     WW  =  white  
     RW  =  pink  
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Ex.      Lets  do  a  test  for  Ylower  color  
R  =  Red        W  =  White    
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Mendel’s  Law  of  Independent  Assortment        
 
 Two  traits  will  be  inherited  independently  of  each  
other,  provided  their  genes  are  located  on  non-­‐
homologous  chromosomes.  

 When  gametes  form,    the  alleles  for  different  traits  


segregate  independently  of  each  other.      
   
   

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     Gene  Linkage  –  If  the  genes  for  two  different  
traits  are  located  on  the  same  chromosome  pair  
(homologous  chromosomes),  they  are  said  to  be  
linked,  and  are  usually  inherited  together.  
 
Ex.  The  gene  for  eye  and  hair  color  are  on  the  same  
chromosome.      Blond  hair  is  often  inherited  with  blue  eyes.  
 
Crossing  over  –  In  the  1st  meiotic  division  the  
chromatids  of  homologous  chromosomes  may  
exchange  segments.    This  results  in  the  
rearrangement  of  linked  genes  and  increases  
variability  of  offspring.

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Multiple  Alleles  –  some  traits  are  controlled  by  
more  than  2  different  alleles  types.  
   
Ex.  Human  blood  types  –  The  inheritance  of  blood  
types  in  humans  can  be  explained  by  a  model  in  
which  there  are  3  alleles  for  blood  type.  
 
   IA  =  A  protein  
   IB  =  B  protein  
     i      =  no  protein  
 
IA  and  IB  are  both  dominant  (codominance)  over  i    

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Blood Type Genotypes
A IAIA IA i
B I BI B IB i
AB IAIB
O ii

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Sex  determination  –    Scientists  have  discovered  that  
chromosomes  in  cells  from  males  and  females    
 were  identical  except  for  one  pair  
   
Humans  have  23  pairs  of  chromosomes.      
 
•       22    pairs  of  autosomes  
•       pair  of  sex  chromosomes  

The  sex  chromosomes  are  called  X  and  Y  


 
The  XX  condition  produces  females,  and  the  XY  condition  
produces  males.  
 
Who  determines  the  sex  of  the  child?  
Ans.    The  man.    A  woman’s  egg’s  all  have  the  X    
chromosome,  but  due  to  meiosis    50%  of  a  man’s  
sperm  are  X  and    50%    are  Y.   33
Sex  Linkage  –  Thomas  Hunt  Morgan’s  work  
with  Drosophila  (fruit  Yly)  demonstrated  that  
some  genes  are  located  on  the  X  chromosome  
and  do  not  have  a  corresponding  allele  on  the  Y  
chromosome.  

Since  many  sex-­‐linked  genes  are  recessive,  


they  are  expressed  in  males  more  than  in  
females.    
 
Why?  
 
A  female  must  have  both  recessive  alleles,  but  
the  male  can  show  the  recessive  trait  with  only  
one  allele.  
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Ex.    Hemophilia  and  colorblindness  in  humans.  
     
   XNXN    -­‐    normal  female  
   XNXn    -­‐    carrier  female  
   XnXn    -­‐    colorblind  female  
   XNY    -­‐        normal  male  
   XnY    -­‐        colorblind  male  
 
Because  a  man  has  only  one  X  chromosome  he  will  
show  a  recessive  phenotype  with  only  one  allele  
for  that  trait.  
How  do  you  get  a  colorblind  female?  

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XII.  Heredity and the Environment – The environment
interacts with genes in the development and expression
of inherited traits

Ex. Effect of light on chlorophyll production


Plant grown in dark – white
Plant grown in light – green

Ex. Effect of temp. on color of the Himalayan rabbit.


Usually the rabbit has white fur with black ears and
paws. If you shave the rabbit and place an ice pack on
the shaved area it will grow black hair in that area.
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