Genetics Flashcards
1
Q
Describe the blending concept of inheritance.
A
- Parents of contrasting appearance produce offspring of intermediate appearance
- Over time, variation would decrease as individuals became more alike in their traits
- Popular theory during Mendel’s time
2
Q
How did Mendel’s finding contrast the blending concept of inheritance?
A
- He formulated the particulate theory of inheritance
- Mendel proposed the laws of segregation and independent assortment
- Inheritance involves reshuffling of genes from generation to generation
3
Q
What plant did Gregor Mendel conduct breeding experiments with?
A
Pisum sativum, the garden pea
4
Q
When did Mendel formulate the laws of heredity?
A
In the early 1860s
5
Q
Why was the garden pea a good choice for the breeding experiments?
A
- Easy to cultivate
- Short generation
- Normally self-pollinating, but can be cross-pollinated by hand
- True-breeding varieties available
- Simple, objective traits
6
Q
Describe Mendel’s laws
A
Law of Segregation
- Each individual has a pair of alleles for each trait.
- The alleles segregate during gamete formation
- Each gamete contains only one allele from each pair of alleles
- Fertilization gives the offspring two alleles for each trait
- Results of the monohybrid cross: All f1 plants were tall, disproving the blending hypothesis
