Chapter 14 Flashcards
what is heredity?
passing on of traits from one generation to the next
what is the blending hypothesis?
genetic material contributed by parents mixes like paint
(yellow + blue = green)
why is the blending hypothesis not how heredity works?
- offspring traits not always average of parents
- some traits are skipped and return across generations
what is the particulate hypothesis?
parents pass on distinct “heritable factors”/genes to their offspring
Why are peas a good organism for testing out the particulate hypothesis?
- easy to grow
- have easily distinguishable phenotypes
- could strictly control mating between organisms to ensure parentage of offspring
what are “either-or” traits?
no intermediates, either one distinct character or another distinct one
ex: no green, either yellow or blue
what is the concept of true breeding?
breeding of offspring where the physical appearance of a parental generation is identical to the offspring generation
ex: purple parents, purple offspring
what are characteristics for good models when it comes to studying genetics/heredity?
GROS
G- generation time is rapid
R - reproduction is quick
O - offspring are plentiful
S - space taken up is small
what is a monohybrid cross?
cross between two individuals differing in A SINGLE character
what four hypotheses did Mendel develop to explain monohybrid cross conclusions? (3:1 in F₂ generation)
- alleles account for variations in inherited characters
- for each gene, an organism inherits two alleles, one from each parent
- if two alleles differ, the dominant allele determines organism’s phenotype
- law of segregation - two alleles for a heritable character separate during gamete formation and end up in different gametes
what are alleles?
alternate versions of genes
why do dominant alleles not suppress a recessive allele?
alleles don’t interact, they’re simply variations in a gene’s nucleotide sequence
what is the law of segregation?
two alleles for a heritable character separate during gamete formation and end up in different gametes, applies only to genes located on different chromosomes, or very far apart on the same chromosome.
Why are dominant alleles not necessarily more common than recessive alleles in the gene pool?
dominant alleles do not suppressive recessive alleles
an allele is dominant because it is seen in the phenotype, not because it can overcome recessive alleles
the segregation of alleles corresponds to what process?
chromosome separation in anaphase I during meiosis I
why doesn’t an organism’s traits always reveal its genetic composition?
phenotype/traits are not equal to genotype/genetic composition
(a dominant trait-expressing individual can be heterozygous or homozyogus dominant)
what is a testcross? what does it accomplish?
breeding a dominant expressing individual with unknown genotype (AA? Aa?) with a homozygous recessive individual (aa), determines genotype of an individual with a dominant phenotype
if offspring displays recessive phenotype (aa), unknown individual has heterozygous allele (Aa)
what are Mendel’s two laws of inheritance?
- law of segregation - following a monohybrid cross
- law of independent assortment - following two traits at the same time
what is the law of independent assortment?
two copies of each gene segregates into gametes independently of the two copies of another gene, genes do not influence each other with regard to the sorting of alleles into gametes: every possible combination of alleles for every gene is equally likely to occur
what are dihybrids?
crossing two true-breeding parents differing in two characteristics
what is a dihybrid cross?
cross between F₁ dihybrids
(AaBb x AaBb)
what does a dihybrid cross accomplish?
determines whether two characteristics are transmitted to offspring together as a package or independent of each other
what phenotypic ratio did Mendel observe that supports the hypothesis of independent assortment?
9:3:3:1
why does the law of independent assortment work as long as two genes are on two separate chromosomes?
if genes were on the same chromosome, both will be present on a gamete and therefore will not be independent of each other
the physical basis of the law of independent assortment lie in which process?
metaphase of meiosis I
equal probability of maternal and paternal chromosome facing a given pole
how does Mendel’s law of segregation and independent assortment reflect the rules of probability?
each event is independent, the outcome of one event has no effect on the outcome of the next event
the alleles of one gene segregate into gametes independently of another gene’s alleles
what is the multiplication rule?
“and” rule; states that the probability that two or more independent events will occur together is the product of their individual probabilities
what is the addition rule?
“or” rule; states that the probability that any one of two or more exclusive events will occur is the sum of their individual probabilities
How does the inheritance of characters by a single gene deviate from Mendelian patterns?
- alleles can be incompletely dominant or recessive
- a gene can have more than two alleles
3.a gene can produce multiple phenotypes
what are the degrees of dominance?
the degree to which an allele is expressed on the organism
complete, incomplete, codominance