Chapter 2: Mendelian Genetics Flashcards
When was the first instance of a controlled experiment and what was it for?
1753 and to identify the cause of scurvy.
Who was mainly interested in heredity early on? For what reason?
Farmers. They wanted to improve their livestock and crops.
Define Generation
Broadly used concept in the 1800s.
It combines aspects of reproduction, heredity, and development.
Was used to explain familial resemblance.
Define Preformationist
The theory that 1 parent contributes nearly everything to produce offspring and the other either serves as (1) to initiate the process or (2) to nourish and house the offspring.
Define Ovists
Belief that the ova contained preformed embryos. Saw the mother as the one responsible for producing offspring.
Define Animalculists
Belief that the sperm cells contained preformed embryos. Saw the father as the one responsible for the producing offspring.
Qual. vs. Quant.
Qualitative Traits - Vary dimensionally (ex. height).
Quantitative Traits - Vary categorically (ex. eye color).
Who was Robert Bakewell?
He was a sheep breeder who kind of started the focus of heredity.
Breeding Strategy: bred closely related animals and did not allow breeding of “inferior” animals.
Who was Abbott Cyrill Napp?
He welcomed Gregor Mendel (a monk at the time) into the monastery.
How did Johann (Gregor) Mendel’s life change because of his mental health?
He was diagnosed with major depressive disorder in his early tweens.
Because of it, he:
- Needed extra time to graduate.
- Could not maintain a parish (priest things).
- Failed the oral component of his teaching exam (twice).
What was Mendel’s teaching career like?
1st - Became a part-time substitute secondary school teacher after losing his parish.
Then - Studied science at a university.
Then - Became a substitute teacher in natural history and physics.
Because he failed his oral exam twice, he did not become a full-time teacher. Therefore, allowing him the time to conduct the studies he did.
What did Mendel try to study before settling on peas?
The coat color in mice.
Mendel’s Model Criteria (for pea plants)
- Possess constantly differing characteristics.
- At the time of flowering, their hybrids must be protected from the action of all pollen or be easily protected.
- The hybrids and their progeny must not suffer any noticeable disturbance in fertility.
Define Varieties
Plants of different lines that breed true for specific phenotypes.
Define Bred True
A line that consistently produces offspring with the same trait across generations.
What kind of traits was Mendel looking to study?
Focus was on qualitative traits.
How many varieties did Mendel find to bred true?
22
What 7 characteristics did Mendel choose for his pea plants?
- Flower position.
- Flower color.
- Plant height.
- Pea shape.
- Pea color.
- Pod shape.
- Pod color.
How did Mendel perform his hybrid crosses?
Collected pollen from a male plant that exhibited the desired trait, then fertilized a female plant that had the other form of the trait by dusting its stigma with the pollen.
Define Hybrid Crosses
Involves controlled matings, starting with parents from lines that breed true for alternative phenotypes.
Define Pollen
Sperm containing gametes of male plants.
Define Stigma
The structure of a plant where the pollen germinates.
Define Reciprocal Crosses
Instead of mating males from P1 to females from P2, it would involve males P2 x female P1.
Define Monohybrid Cross
Design where the inheritance of 1 categorical trait is investigated.
Define Parental Generation (P)
The 1st generation in hybrid crosses. From lines that breed true for the trait(s) of interest.
Define First Filial Generation (F1)
Consists of offspring from the P line crosses.
Define Second Filial Generation (F2)
The product of F1 being mated together.
What was Mendel’s first experiment?
A monohybrid cross of pea shape.
Define Blended Inheritance
When the expression of a categorical trait in the offspring is intermediate to that of the 2 parents.
Was disproven by Mendel.
Mendel’s Monohybrid Cross (Pea Shape) (image)
How did Mendel disprove the idea of blended inheritance?
When he mated P, the F1 produced traits that resembled 1 parent. Therefore, disproving it.
How did Mendel disprove the idea of preformationism?
When he mated P, the F1 produced traits that resembled 1 parent. This only disproves blended inheritance.
However, when he did a reciprocal cross, the results when identical. Therefore, disproving it.
Define Dominant Traits
When having only 1 copy of the allele is sufficient to produce the phenotype.
Define Recessive Traits
When 2 copies of an allele are required to produce the phenotype.
What ratio did Mendel find in his monohybrid crosses?
3:1 in the F2 generation.
What did Mendel hypothesize about genes?
That 2 genes are carried by each individual for each trait.
(AA, Aa, aa, etc.)
Define Gene (Mendelian Genetics)
A hypothetical unit of inheritance responsible for the phenotype of interest.
Define Alleles
Alternative versions of a genetic variant.
Define Genotype (Mendelian Genetics)
Comprise the 2 alleles inherited from one’s parents.
Heterozygous vs Homozygous Genotypes
Heterozygous - Aa
Homozygous - AA; aa