7. Genetics, populations, evolution and ecosystems Flashcards
What is a dominant allele?
An allele which is always expressed in the phenotype even when there is only one copy of it
What is a recessive allele?
An allele that can only appear in the phenotype if two copies are present.
What are codominant alleles
Alleles that are both expressed in the phenotype because neither one is recessive.
If an organism carries two copies of the same allele it is said to be……….
homozygous at the locus.
If an organism carries two different alleles it is said to be…….
heterozygous at the locus.
What is monohybrid inheritance?
Inheritance of a characteristic controlled by a single gene.
What do monohybrid crosses show?
The likelihood of the different alleles of that gene being inherited by the offspring of certain parents.
What type of offspring would a monohybrid cross with two homozygous parents produce?
It will always produce all heterozygous offspring.
What is a phenotypic ratio?
The ratio of different phenotypes in the offspring.
What is the usual phenotypic ratio you would get if you did a monohybrid cross with two heterozygous parents?
3:1 ratio of dominant:recessive characteristics.
What ratio would you expect to see if you did a monohybrid cross with two heterozygous parents involving codominant alleles?
1:2:1
What is dihybrid inheritance?
The inheritance of two characteristics which are controlled by different genes.
What can dihybrid crosses show?
The likelihood of offspring inheriting certain combinations of two characteristics from particular parents.
What phenotypic ratio would you expect to see if you did a dihybrid cross with 2 heterozygous parents?
9:3:3:1 dominant both : dominant first, recessive second : recessive first, dominant second : recessive both
What does sex-linked mean?
The alleles that code for them are located on a sex chromosome.
Which sex chromosome carries most genes?
X chromosome
Which gender is more likely to express the characteristic of sex linked genes? Why?
Males - they have one X chromosome so they only have one copy of the allele, they express it even if it is recessive.
What are two X linked disorders?
Colour blindness and haemophilia
Why can’t males be carriers of X-linked disorders?
Because they only have one copy of each chromosome so if they have the allele they have the disease whether it is recessive or not.
What is an autosome?
Any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome.
What are genes on the same autosome said to be? Why?
Linked - they will stay together during the independent segregation of chromosomes in meiosis 1 and their alleles will be passed on to their offspring together.
What can cause autosomal genes not to stay together during independent segregation?
If crossing over splits them up first.
What is independent segregation?
The random division of homologous chromosomes into separate daughter cells during meiosis.
If two genes are autosomally linked, what ratio would you expect to see and why?
3:1 because the two autosomally linked alleles are inherited together.
What is epistasis?
A phenomenon when the genotype of one gene can mask the effects of a separate gene.
What happens if the epistatic allele is recessive?
Two copies of it will mask the expression of the other gene.
In recessive epistasis alleles, if you cross a homozygous recessive parent with a homozygous dominant parents, what phenotypic ratio would you get in the F2 generation?
9:3:4 dominant both : dominant epistatic, recessive other : recessive epistatic
What happens when the epistatic allele is dominant?
Having at least one copy will block the expression of the other.
What is the chi-squared test?
Statistical test that is used to see if the results of an experiment support a theory.
What are the 5 steps in the chi-squared test?
Theory
Expected results
Observed results
Null hypothesis
Chi-squared test
What is the null hypothesis?
Is always “there is no significant difference between the observed and expected results.”
What is the formula for the chi-squared value?
The sum of = (O-E)2 / E
O = observed result
E = expected result
If the chi-squared value is larger or equal to the critical value then….. the null hypothesis.
reject
If the chi-squared value is less than the critical value then….. the null hypothesis.
fail to reject the null hypothesis
What is a species?
A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring in nature.
What is a population?
A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the same time.
What is a gene pool?
Is the complete range of alleles present in a population.
What is the Hardy-Weinberg principle?
Mathematical model that predicts the frequencies of alleles in a population won’t change from one generation to the next.
What is the allele frequency and what is the equation?
The total frequency of all possible alleles for a characteristic in a certain population. It is always 100% or 1.0
p+q = 1
p = the frequency of one allele
q = the frequency of the other allele