Fundamentals of Genetics

Question 1

What is genetics the study of?

Answer 1

how characteristics are passed from parents to offspring

Question 2

What is a characteristic?

Answer 2

a heritable feature (flower color & plant height)

Question 3

What are traits?

Answer 3

genetically determined variations of a characteristic (purple flower, tall height)

Question 4

How was Mendel able to observe the traits being passed through the plants?

Answer 4

by controlling the plants were pollinated

Question 5

What is pollination?

Answer 5

sexual reproduction where pollen is transferred from the anther (penis) to the stigma (vagina)

Question 6

What is the difference between self-pollination and cross-pollination?

Answer 6

self-pollination is when pollen is transferred to the same flower or another flower on the same plant while cross-pollination happens between flowers of two different plants

Question 7

What type of plants made up the P generation?

Answer 7

they were true-breeded for specific traits

Question 8

What are true-breeded plants?

Answer 8

plants that will always produce offspring with the true-breeded trait when they self pollinate

Question 9

What was the offspring of the P generation called?

Answer 9

F1 (first filial)

Question 10

What was the offspring of the F1 generation called?

Answer 10

F2 (second filial)

Question 11

What are inherited characteristics controlled by?

Answer 11

factors/alleles that occur in pairs

Question 12

What are the two types of alleles?

Answer 12

dominant (masks recessive) and recessive (gets masked0

Question 13

What does the law of segregation state?

Answer 13

a pair of alleles is separated during meiosis and the formation of gametes

Question 14

How many alleles does a gamete receive?

Answer 14

one allele of each pair

Question 15

How does an offspring eventually receive two alleles for each characteristic?

Answer 15

through the fertilization/pollination of two gametes combining

Question 16

What does the law of independent assortment state?

Answer 16

alleles for indvidual characteristics are distributed to gametes independently of one another so a plant can have a dominant green seed pod with a recessive flower

Question 17

Where is the law of independent assortment observed?

Answer 17

only for genes that are located on separate chromosomes or are far apart on the same chromosome

Question 18

What is a gene?

Answer 18

a segment of DNA on a chromosome that controls a particular hereditary characteristic

Question 19

What are alleles?

Answer 19

alternative forms of a gene

ex: gene for hair colors has alleles for blond, black brown, red, etc.