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A Level Biology OCR A > 20 - Patterns of Inheritance and Variation > Flashcards

20 - Patterns of Inheritance and Variation Flashcards

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1
Q

How is closeness of two linked genes on a chromosome linked to the number of recombinant offspring?

A

More closely linked genes means less separation and so less recombinant offspring

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2
Q

What is a karyotype?

A

A display of every pair of homologous chromosomes within a cell, organized according to size and shape

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3
Q

What is a phenotype?

A

Physical characteristics of an organism

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4
Q

What is a genotype?

A

Genetic makeup of an organism

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5
Q

What 2 things affect an organism’s phenotype?

A

Genotype and environment

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6
Q

What is it called when a characteristic is codes for by multiple genes?

A

Polygenic

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7
Q

What type of characteristics tend to be polygenic?

A

Ones which vary within a range, such as height

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8
Q

What is continuous variation?

A

A characteristic that can take any value within a range

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9
Q

What is discontinuous variation?

A

A characteristic that can only result in certain values

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10
Q

What does it mean if something is monogenic?

A

Controlled by only 1 gene

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11
Q

What type of characteristics tend to be monogenic?

A

Ones which exhibit discontinuous variation

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12
Q

What are the 3 things which affect genotype?

A
  1. Sexual reproduction 2. Gene mutations 3. Chromosome mutations
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13
Q

What 2 characteristics do all mutations which take place during gamete formation have?

A
  1. Persistent (passed through many generations) 2. Random (so not directed by need)
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14
Q

When do chromosome mutations occur?

A

During meiosis

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15
Q

What happens in a deletion chromosome mutation?

A

Part of the chromosome, containing genes and regulatory sequences, is lost

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16
Q

What happens in an inversion chromosome mutation?

A

Sections of chromosome break off, turn around 180 degrees and rejoin

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17
Q

Why might genes not be expressed after an inversion chromosome mutation despite still being present?

A

They may be too far away from their regulatory nucleotide sequence

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18
Q

What happens in a translocation chromosome mutation?

A

A piece of chromosome breaks off and reattaches to another chromosome

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19
Q

What happens in a duplication chromosome mutation?

A

Part of the chromosome is duplicated, which can lead to harmful overexpression of certain genes

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20
Q

What type of mutation causes Downs syndrome?

A

Non-disjunction chromosome mutation

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21
Q

What happens in a non-disjunction chromosome mutation?

A

One pair of chromatids fails to separate, leaving one gamete with an extra chromosome

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22
Q

What is aneuploidy?

A

Chromosome number is not an exact multiple of haploid number

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23
Q

What is polyploidy?

A

A condition in which an organism has more than two complete sets of chromosomes

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24
Q

What type of organism tends to be polyploidy?

A

Many cultivated plants

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25
Q

What are 3 ways in which sexual reproduction can cause genetic variation?

A
  1. Allele shuffling during crossing over 2. Independent assortment 3. Random fertilisation, where any male gamete can fertilise any female gamete
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26
Q

What is etiolation?

A

Where plants grow long and spindly due to a lack of light

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27
Q

What is chlorosis?

A

The yellowing of leaves due to a lack of Magnesium ions (Mg2+)

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28
Q

What are 3 examples of environmental factors which can affect phenotype?

A
  1. Diet in humans 2. Etiolation 3. Chlorosis
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29
Q

What is a dominant allele?

A

An allele which will always be expressed when present

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30
Q

What is a recessive allele?

A

One which will only be expressed when there are 2 copies present

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31
Q

What does it mean if alleles are codominant?

A

Both are expressed in the phenotype, which becomes sort of a hybrid of the traits coded for by both

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32
Q

What is a dihybrid?

A

A hybrid that is heterozygous for alleles of two different genes

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33
Q

How do you write the first and second generations when doing homozygous genetic crosses?

A

First is F1, second is F2

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34
Q

What do you call the parental generation when doing a homozygous genetic cross?

A

F1 generation

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35
Q

What is a gene locus?

A

Location of a gene on a chromosome

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36
Q

What are the 3 golden rules of monohybrid crosses?

A
  1. Homozygous dominant and homozygous recessive give 100% heterozygous offspring 2. Two heterozygous give a 3:1 ratio of phenotypes 3. Heterozygous and homozygous recessive give a 1:1 ratio of phenotypes
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37
Q

What is a test cross?

A

Crossing an organism with a heterozygous genotype with one with a homozygous recessive genotype

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38
Q

What would you use a test cross for?

A

Determining the genotype of an individual showing a dominant characteristic

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39
Q

What happens when multiple (i.e. more than 2) possible alleles are present for a gene?

A

Only 2 can be present in the offspring’s genotype

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40
Q

Which gamete determines the sex of the offspring?

A

Sperm, depending on whether it carries a Y allele or not

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41
Q

What does it mean if a gene is sex linked?

A

Located on one of the sex chromosomes

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42
Q

What is an autosome?

A

Any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome

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43
Q

What is autosomal linkage?

A

Gene loci present on the same autosome that are often inherited together

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44
Q

What are 3 examples of sex-linked medical conditions?

A
  1. Haemophilia 2. Colour blindness 3. Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy
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45
Q

What is dihybrid inheritance?

A

The inheritance of two characteristics which are controlled by different genes

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46
Q

What are 2 reasons the actual ratio of phenotypes may differ from the theoretical one?

A
  1. Fertilisation of gametes is a random process, so few chance events can lead to a skewed ratio 2. Genes being studied are on the same autosome
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47
Q

What is epistasis?

A

When one gene masks or suppresses the expression of another

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48
Q

What is an example of epistasis?

A

Baldness masking the widow’s peak gene

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49
Q

Why are sex-linked recessive conditions more likely to appear in men?

A

As there is no dominant allele on the X chromosome

50
Q

What is the usual phenotypic ratio you would expect for a dihybrid cross?

A

9:3:3:1

51
Q

What happens to the phenotypic ratio of a dihybrid cross if there is autosomal linkage?

A

It becomes more like a monogenic one (3:1)

52
Q

What is the Chi Squared test used to measure?

A

The size of the difference between the observed and expected results, as well as whether these differences are significant

53
Q

How do linked genes tend to be inherited?

A

Together, unless they are separated by chiasmata

54
Q

What are recombinant offspring?

A

Recombinant offspring are those that have an arrangement of alleles on the chromosome that was not present in either parent

55
Q

When are recombinant offspring produced?

A

When normally linked genes are split during meiosis

56
Q

What is recombination frequency?

A

A measure of the amount of crossing over which has occurred during meiosis?

57
Q

How is recombination frequency calculated?

A

Number of recombinant offspring/total number of offspring

58
Q

What does a recombination frequency of 50% indicate?

A

That there is no linkage and that the genes are on separate chromosomes

59
Q

What does a recombination frequency of less than 50% indicate?

A

Gene linkage

60
Q

What can recombination frequencies be used for?

A

Mapping genes on a chromosome

61
Q

When does dominant epistasis occur?

A

If a dominant allele results in a gene having an effect on another gene

62
Q

What are the 2 forms of epistasis?

A

Dominant and recessive epistasis

63
Q

When would recessive epistasis occur?

A

If the presence of 2 recessive alleles led to a lack of something

64
Q

What is a gene pool?

A

The sum of all genes in a population

65
Q

What is allele frequency?

A

The relative frequency of an allele in a population at any given time

66
Q

What 2 equations make up the Hardy-Weinberg Principle?

A
  1. p + q = 1, 2. p² + 2pq + q² = 1
67
Q

What 2 things is allele frequency not?

A
  1. Not linked to whether the allele is dominant or recessive 2. Not fixed
68
Q

What does evolution involve in terms of alleles?

A

A long-term change in the allele frequencies within a population

69
Q

What is p in the Hardy-Weinberg equation?

A

Frequency of dominant allele

70
Q

What is q in the Hardy-Weinberg equation?

A

Frequency of recessive allele

71
Q

What is p squared in the Hardy-Weinberg equation?

A

Frequency of homozygous dominant allele

72
Q

What is 2pq in the Hardy-Weinberg equation?

A

Frequency of heterogeneous genotype in the population

73
Q

What is q squared in the Hardy-Weinberg equation?

A

Frequency of homozygous recessive genotype in the population

74
Q

What 5 assumptions underpin the Hardy-Weinberg principle?

A
  1. No selection 2. No mutation 3. No emigration/immigration 4. Random mating 5. Large population
75
Q

What does the Hardy-Weinberg principle state?

A

That allele frequencies in a population should remain constant unless one or more factors cause those frequencies to change

76
Q

Do populations tend to follow the Hardy-Weinberg principle in the real world? Why/why not?

A

No as the conditions/assumptions rarely tend to be met

77
Q

What 2 things can the Hardy-Weinberg equations be used to calculate?

A

Allele and genotype frequencies

78
Q

What is genetic drift?

A

Change in allele frequency caused by random mutations and chance

79
Q

Why is a large population assumed for the Hardy-Weinberg principle?

A

Because genetic drift occurs much more in small populations

80
Q

Upsetting the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium may eventually lead to what?

A

Evolution

81
Q

What are the 2 types of factors which affect population size?

A
  1. Density-dependent 2. Density-independent
82
Q

Why are small populations more likely to become extinct?

A

They tend to have lower genetic diversity and so are worse at responding to change- for example, a pathogen could wipe out an entire population

83
Q

What are density-dependent factors dependent on?

A

Population size

84
Q

What are 4 examples of density-dependent factors?

A
  1. Parasitism 2. Predation 3. Communicable disease 4. Competition
85
Q

What makes density-independent factors different from density-dependent factors?

A

They affect populations of all sizes equally

86
Q

What are 4 examples of density-independent factors?

A
  1. Natural disasters 2. Human activities i.e. deforestation 3. Climate change 4. Seasonal change
87
Q

What is a genetic bottleneck?

A

When a sudden environmental change drastically reduces the size of the population for at least a generation

88
Q

What happens to genetic diversity when a genetic bottleneck occurs?

A

It is greatly reduced for a long period of time

89
Q

What is a positive effect of a genetic bottleneck?

A

A beneficial mutation will have a much greater impact and lead to quicker development of a new species

90
Q

What is the founder effect?

A

The reduced genetic diversity that results when a population is descended from a small number of colonizing ancestors. The new population can also be very genetically different from the one its founders split off from due to genetic drift and random presence of some alleles in the founders

91
Q

What is the founder effect an extreme example of?

A

Genetic drift

92
Q

What form will the distribution of different variants of characteristics take?

A

A bell curve (standard distribution)

93
Q

What happens in stabilising selection?

A

Average individuals are favoured

94
Q

What happens in directional selection?

A

Individuals are favoured in one direction

95
Q

When does directional selection occur?

A

When there is a change in the environment and the most common phenotype is no longer the most advantageous, so organisms with more extreme phenotypes are favoured

96
Q

What happens in disruptive selection?

A

The extremes are selected for and the average is selected against

97
Q

What is the opposite of stabilising selection?

A

Disruptive selection

98
Q

What is speciation?

A

The formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution

99
Q

What form of speciation is the most common?

A

Allopatric speciation

100
Q

What is the sequence of events for speciation?

A
  1. Members of a population become isolated and no longer interbreed with the rest of the population, so no gene flow between the groups 2. Random mutation within the groups continues, but each may have different selection pressures 3. Eventually mutations and changes in allele frequency will mean that both populations are so different that they can no longer interbreed and produce fertile offspring
101
Q

What happens in allopatric speciation?

A

A population is geographically isolated, and due to different environmental selection pressures speciation occurs

102
Q

What happens in sympatric speciation?

A

Speciation occurs despite the two populations sharing the same habitat

103
Q

What is a reason that sympatric speciation may occur?

A

Two different species can interbreed and form fertile offspring which has a different chromosome number from either parent species, thus meaning that the new population is genetically isolated

104
Q

What do prezygotic reproductive barriers do?

A

Prevent fertilisation and formation of a gamete

105
Q

What do postzygotic reproductive barriers do?

A

Reduce the viability or reproductive potential of offspring

106
Q

What often forms postzygotic reproductive barriers?

A

Hybridisation

107
Q

What is the wild type allele?

A

Most common allele in a population

108
Q

What are other forms of the wild type allele called?

A

Mutants

109
Q

What are 4 examples of problems with artificial selection?

A
  1. Makes more docile animals which can’t compete or fight with wild animals 2. Makes more lean animals which could get cold or suffer if food stocks decline 3. Coat colour might not suit environment 4. Inbreeding exacerbates genetic conditions and problems
110
Q

What is artificial selection?

A

The selective breeding of plants and animals by humans to produce desirable traits

111
Q

What are 2 reasons artificial selection reducing genetic diversity is a bad thing?

A
  1. More susceptible to genetic diseases 2. Potentially useful alleles for the future are lost
112
Q

What are 2 problems with artificial selection?

A
  1. Can cause health problems by exaggerating certain negative traits 2. Reduces genetic diversity
113
Q

What is a species?

A

A population of genetically similar individuals whose members can interbreed and produce fertile offspring

114
Q

What are 3 types of changes which can cause reproductive isolation, with one example for each?

A
  1. Seasonal changes i.e. different mating seasons 2. Mechanical changes i.e. changes in genitalia prevent successful mating 3. Behavioural changes i.e. different courtship rituals developing
115
Q

What is inbreeding?

A

Mating between closely related individuals

116
Q

What is outbreeding?

A

The breeding of distantly related individuals of a species

117
Q

How can the problems of inbreeding be mitigated?

A

Using alleles from gene banks to do outbreeding

118
Q

What 2 things does outbreeding do?

A
  1. Reduced incidence of homozygous recessives 2. Increases the potential to adapt to environmental change
119
Q

What do seed banks do?

A

Keep seeds from both wild type and domesticated varieties of plants

120
Q

What do gene banks do?

A

Similar to seed banks but keep biological samples other than seeds such as sperm or ova, usually frozen

121
Q

What are both seed and gene banks?

A

An important genetic resource

A Level Biology OCR A (23 decks)

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