3.4 Inheritance Flashcards
What was Gregor Mendel experiment with pea plants? (3)
- first, crossed different varieties of purebred pea plants, then collected and grew the seeds to determine their characteristics
- next, he crossed the offspring with each other (self-fertilisation) and grow their seeds to similarity determine their characteristics
- these crosses were performed many times to establish reliable data trends (5000 crosses were performed)
What did Mendel discover from these experiments? (2)
- when he crossed 2 different purebred varieties together the results were not a blend (only one features would be expressed)
(Purebred tall and short pea plants crossed, all offspring developed into tall growing plants) - when Mendel self-fertilised the offspring, the resulting progeny expressed the 2 different traits in a ration of -3:1
(When tall growing progeny were crosses, tall and short pea plants were produced in a ration - 3:1)
What conclusions did Mendel draw from the results of his experiment? (5)
- organisms have discrete factors which determine features (genes)
- organisms possess 2 versions of each factor (alleles)
- each gamete contains 1 version of each factor (sex cells are haploid)
- parent contribute equally to the inheritance of offspring as a result of fission between randomly selected egg and sperm
- for each factor, one version is dominant over another and will be completely expressed if present
What are Mendels laws? (3)
- law segregation: when gametes form, alleles are separated os each gamete carries only 1 alleles for each gene
- Law of independent assortment: the segregation of alleles for one gene occur independent to that of any other gene
- Principle of dominance: recessive alleles will be masked by dominant alleles
What are caveats to Mendels? (2)
- law of independent assortment does not hold true for genes located on same chromosome
- not all genes show a complete dominance hierarchy - some genes show co-dominance or incomplete dominance
What are gametes?
Haploid sex cells formed by process of meiosis
Describe why haploid sex cells are haploid (3)
- during MI, homologous chromosomes are separated into different nuclei prior to cell division
- as homologous chromosomes carry the same gene, segregation of the chromosome also separate allele pairs
- as ganteries contain only 1 copy of each chromosome they carry only 1 allele for each gene
What does it mean if gametes are haploid?
The only possess 1 allele for each gene
- male and female gametes fuse during fertilisation the zygote will contain 2 alleles for each gene
How many alleles for each gene are located on a sex chromosome?
Males have only 1 allele for each gene on the sex chromosome as the chromosomes aren’t paired
How can combinations of alleles be categorised? (3)
- if the maternal and paternal alleles are the same, the offspring is homozygous for the gene
- if the maternal and paternal alleles are different, the offspring is heterozygous for the gene
- males only have 2 allele for each gene located on a sex chromosome and are hemizygous for that gene
What the gene composition for a specific trait called?
Genotype
(Either heterozygous or homozygous)
What is there observable characteristics of a specific trait called?
Phenotype
What is the phenotype determined by?
- genotype and environmental influences
What will the dominant allele do? (3)
- dominant allele will mask the recessive allele when in a heterozygous state
- homozygous dominant and heterozygous forms will be phenotypically indistinguishable
- the recessive allele will only be expressed in the phenotype when in a homozygous state
What is co-dominance?
Occurs when pairs of alleles are both expressed equally in the phenotype of a heterozygous individual
What kind of allele dominance do blood type A and B have?
Co-dominant
How do genetic diseases occur?
When mutations to a gene abrogate normal cellular function leading to the development of a disease phenotype
Only what kinds of alleles will result in an autosomal genetic diseases to occur?
Homozygous (both alleles are faulty)