Inheriting Traits Eye color , nose shape and many other physical features are some of the traits that are inherited from parents. An organism is a collection of traits, all inherited from it parents.
Vocabulary Heredity – passing of traits from parent to offspring Genetics – the study of traits passed from parents to offspring Trait – genetically determined variant of a characteristic Trait vs. Characteristic – if a characteristic is “eye color ”, blue eyes would be a possible trait Alleles – different forms of a trait
Every sex cell has one allele for each trait Genetics is the study of how traits are inherited through the interactions of alleles
Father of Genetics Gregor Mendel began experimenting with garden peas in 1856 Carefully observed the pea plants, resulting in the first recorded study of how traits pass from one generation to the next
Used the math of probability to explain heredity The first to trace one trait through several generations
Genetics in a Garden Each time Mendel studied a trait, he crossed two plants with different expressions of the trait and found that the new plants all looked like one of the two parents.
Genetics in a Garden He called these new plants hybrids because they received different genetic information, or different alleles, for a trait from each parent.
Genetics in a Garden Purebred – an organism that always produces the same traits generation after generation Ex. Tall plants that always produce seeds that produce tall plants are purebred for the trait of tall height
Self-pollination – when pollen from a plant is transferred to a flower on the same plant Cross pollination – when pollen from a plant is transferred to a flower on a different plant *In his experiments, Mendel used pollen from the flowers of purebred tall plants to pollinate by hand the flowers of purebred short plants
Mendel found that tall plants crossed with short plants produced all tall plants. DOMINANT vs. RECESSIVE
DOMINANT – Mendel called the tall form dominant because it dominated, or covered up, the short form RECESSIVE – He called the form that seemed to disappear the recessive factor
Probability – Make a prediction Mendel used probability (a branch of math that helps you predict the chance that something will happen.) His predictions were accurate because he worked with a large number of plants (almost 30,000 pea plants in 8 years), thereby increasing his chances of seeing a repeatable pattern.
Punnett Squares A tool used to predict results in genetics is the Punnett square . It helps you predict what offspring would look like. In a Punnett square, letters represent dominant and recessive alleles.
An uppercase letter stands for a dominant allele An lowercase letter stands for a recessive allele
Punnett squares show the genotype or the genetic makeup of an organism inherited from its parents It also shows the phenotyp e , which is the appearance of an organism (ex. Tall or short)
Most cells in your body have two alleles for every trait. The alleles are located on chromosomes within the nucleus. Ex. Trait - Height T allele would be for Tall t allele would be for short
An organism with two alleles that are the same is called homozygous . Ex. TT An organism that has two different alleles for a trait is called heterozygous . Example Tt
Making a Punnett Square B B b b Bb Bb Bb Bb
Dominance An allele’s effect is Dominant or recessive. More common traits tend to be dominant and less common are recessive. Ex. T – Tall, t – short TT would be Tall Tt would still be Tall (because big T is dominant tt would be short
Activity What fraction of this couple’s children would you expect to be AA? What fraction of this couple’s children would you expect to be Aa ? What fraction of this couple’s children would you expect to be aa ? What fraction of this couple’s children would you expect to have normal pigmentation? What fraction of this couple’s children would you expect to have albinism? A = normal pigmentation a = albinism
Mendel’s Laws of Genetics Law of Segregation Law of Independent Assortment
1. Law of Segregation For any particular trait, the pair of alleles of each parent separate and only one allele passes from each parent on to an offspring. Which allele in a parent’s pair is inherited is a matter of chance.
Ex. Each parent gives only one allele to an egg or sperm. When fertilization occurs, the offspring’s gene pair is determined by which allele each sex cell carried.
2. Law of Independent Assortment Different pairs of alleles are passed to offspring independently of each other. This means that the offspring can have combinations of genes that neither parent has. So, the offspring can look differently than both parents. Ex. Explains why the human inheritance of a particular eye color does not increase or decrease the likelihood of having 6 fingers on each hand.
Types of Genetic Crosses Monohybrid cross – cross involving single trait Ex. Flower color Dihybrid cross – cross involving two traits Ex. Flower color and plant height
More Words P Generation – parent generation in a genetic cross F1 generation – first generation offspring resulting from a cross between parents F2 generation – second generation offspring resulting from a cross between the F1 offspring
Sex Determination XX – girls XY – boys Females produce eggs with X chromosomes only. Males produce sperm with X and Y chromosomes
Sex-Linked Disorders An allele inherited on a sex chromosome is called a sex-linked gene. Ex. Color blindness is a sex-linked disorder in which people cannot distinguish between certain colors , particularly red and green
This trait is a recessive allele on the X chromosome. Because males have only one X chromosome, a male with this allele on his X chromosome is color blind. A color blind female occurs only when both of her X chromosomes have the allele for this trait. So, are you color blind or not?
Pedigree A visual tool for following a trait through generations of a family. Males – squares, Females – circles Completely filled circle or square – trait is seen in that person Half colored – indicate carriers Empty – do not have the trait and are not carriers
Homework You are newly married and want to find out the probability of you having kids with blue eyes. You have brown eyes, while your spouse has blue eyes. Will you have kids with blue eyes? And if so, how many? What other sex-linked genetic disorders are there? Give examples and a brief description.
Will Your Kids Have Blue Eyes? Brown eyes are stronger than blue eyes . If you have brown eyes but carry a blue-eye gene, there’s a 50% chance your kids could have blue eyes. Your kids will have brown eyes if you don’t carry the blue-eye gene. Examples of Genetic Disorders Hemophilia : Blood doesn’t clot well, causing easy bleeding. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy : Muscles get weak over time. Red-Green Color Blindness : Hard to tell red and green apart. Fragile X Syndrome : Affects learning and behaviour .