Patterns Of Inheritence Flashcards
Who is Gregor Mendel, and what did his experiments with peas demonstrate?
Gregor Mendel, the founder of genetics, demonstrated the principles of inheritance, including dominant and recessive traits.
What does “true-breeding” mean in genetics?
True-breeding organisms consistently produce offspring with the same traits when self-pollinated.
What are alleles?
The dominant allele determines appearance, while the recessive allele has no noticeable effect if a dominant allele is present.
How do dominant and recessive alleles affect an organism’s traits?
The dominant allele determines appearance, while the recessive allele has no noticeable effect if a dominant allele is present.
What is Mendel’s law of segregation?
It states that two alleles for each trait separate during gamete formation and reunite at fertilization.
Define phenotype and genotype.
Phenotype is the observable traits of an organism, while genotype is its genetic composition.
What is a Punnett Square?
A diagram used to predict genotypes and phenotypes of offspring from parental crosses.
Explain a monohybrid cross.
A cross examining two traits; it demonstrates Mendel’s law of independent assortment.
What is the law of independent assortment?
Alleles for different traits segregate independently during gamete formation.
How does meiosis relate to Mendel’s laws?
Meiosis involves the separation of homologous chromosomes, supporting the laws of segregation and independent assortment.
Describe a dihybrid cross and its significance.
A cross examining two traits; it demonstrates Mendel’s law of independent assortment.
What are non-Mendelian inheritance patterns
Inheritance patterns that don’t follow Mendelian laws, such as incomplete dominance and codominance.
What is a pedigree chart?
A family tree diagram that shows inheritance patterns of specific traits.
Explain autosomal recessive inheritance and provide an example.
Traits that require two copies of the recessive allele to be expressed; cystic fibrosis is an example.
Explain autosomal dominant inheritance and provide an example.
Traits that require only one copy of the dominant allele; Huntington’s disease is an example.
What is sex-linked inheritance?
Traits associated with alleles on the sex chromosomes, often affecting males more frequently.
Describe mitochondrial inheritance.
Genes in mitochondrial DNA are passed down only from the mother to her children.
Define penetrance and expressivity.
Penetrance is the percentage of individuals showing the phenotype, while expressivity is the range of phenotype severity.
What are multifactorial disorders?
Disorders influenced by multiple genes and environmental factors, like heart disease and diabetes.
How do genotype and environment interact in phenotypic expression?
The environment can influence the expression of a genotype, affecting traits such as disease susceptibility.
