B5.1 Inheritance Flashcards
What is variation?
Differences within species.
State four examples of variation.
- Height
- Build
- Eye colour
- Hair colour
- Blood group
- Language
Name the two causes of variation within species.
- Genetics
- Environment.
How can variation of a characteristic displayed be further categorised?
Into continuos vs. discontinuous variation.
What is discontinuous variation?
- Variation that produces distint categories
- e.g. Eye colour, blood group, gender
What is continuous variation?
- Variation that cannot be placed in distinct categories and instead produces a spectrum
- e.g. height, weight, skin colour
What type of variation will human body mass display?
Continuous.
What causes variation?
Mutations in the genetic code.
What is asexual reproduction?
- Reproduction that produces a clone that is a genetically identical to it single parent.
- There is no mixing of genetic material
Give two examples of organisms that can replicate asexually.
- Potato plants
- Stawberries
- Spider plants
- Bacteria
- Mushrooms
- Daffodils
How does asexual reproduction take place?
Mitosis.
What is sexual reproduction?
- Reproduction requiring two parents
- Genetic information is taken from both parents
- Organisms produce haploid gametes that fuse during fertilisation
- Offspring are not identical
- Results in variation
Give one advantage and one disadvantage of sexual reproduction.
- Advantage: Variation in offspring leads to adaptation in a species. This results in some organisms within a species containing adaptations that allow them to cope with an environmental pressue. These organisms can reproduce, enabling the species/population to survive.
- Disadvantage: Reproduction requires two parents. Reproduction is slowers, so few offspring are produced.
Give one advantage and one disadvantage of asexual reproduction.
Advantages
- If the parent was well adapted to an area then the offspring will share an identical set of characteristics
- Only one parent is needs - animals do not need to find a partner, plants do not require pollination.
- Faster, so large numbers of offspring are produced quickly
Disadvantage:
- Adverse changes to the biotic or abiotic factors may destroy the species, as all organisms affected due to the being no variation.
What is a gamete?
- A sex cell
- Haploid cell used in sexual reproduction
- Sperm & egg
- Pollen & ovule
What is a chromosome?
Tightly packaged DNA wrapped around histone proteins.
What is a gene?
A section of DNA that can (but not always) code for a protein.
What is an allele?
Different versions of the same gene e.g blue eyes vs. green eyes
What is a dominant allele?
A version of a gene where only one copy is required for it to be expressed in the organisms phenotype.
What is a recessive allele?
A version of a gene where two copies are required for it to be expressed in the organisms phenotype.
What is meant by the phrase ‘pure breeding’?
The organism is homozygous for a characteristic.
What is meant when an organism is homozygous?
When an organism has two copies of the same allele (either both dominant or both recessive).
What is meant when an organism is heterozygous?
When an organism has two different version of the same gene (one dominan and one recessive).
What is the genotype?
The genes present for a trait.
