Genetics Flashcards
gregor mendel
bred garden peas, argued that parents pass on to their offspring discrete heritable factors, said genes retain their individuality generation after generation (don’t blend). true bred plants
hypotheses:
1. there are alternative versions of genes that account for variations in inherited characters, alternative versions of genes called alleles
2. for each character, an organism inherits two alleles, one from each parent. can be homogenous or heterozygous
3. if the two alleles of an inherited pair differ, then one determines the organism’s appearance and is called the dominant allele; the other has no noticeable effect on the organism’s appearance and is called the recessive allele
4. a sperm or egg carries only one allele for each inherited character because allele pairs separate (segregate) from each other during the production of gametes
true-breeding
varieties of an organism for which self-fertilization produces offspring identical to the parent
hybrid
the offspring of two different varieties of organism (ex. purple plant bred with white plant, offspring is hybrid)
fertilization
the union of the nucleus of a sperm cell with the nucleus of an egg cell, producing a zygote. organisms fertilize one another to make more
p generation
first generation, parents, true-breeding
f1 generation
hybrid offspring of p generation
f2 generation
when f1 plants self fertilize or fertilize one another, offspring are f2 generation
monohybrid cross
when two parents are mated that only have one different character
dihybrid cross
a mating of parental varieties differing in two characters
gene
factors that parents pass on to their children. they remain individuality generation after generation. they determine certain characteristics of the children
allele
the alternative versions of a gene. different alleles count for variations in inherited characteristics
genotype
an organism’s genetic makeup (ex. Gg)
phenotype
an organism’s expressed, or physical, traits (ex. white flowers)
recessive
the allele that has no noticeable effect on the organism’s appearance. if a gene is recessive, it may skip generations. the only time it is expressed is it the person has two recessive alleles, lower case
dominant
the allele that determines the organism’s appearance, upper case
heterozygous
an organism that has two different alleles for a gene is heterozygous for that gene and is called a heterozygote