ESO lecture 7 9th August, 2010 Foundations of transmission genetics Mendelian laws of inheritance

Gregor Johann Mendel (1822 1884) Priest in Augustinian Monastery in Brno, Czechoslovakia

His work with peas laid the foundation for genetics . He was a University educated priest He studied math and science. He returned to the monastery and taught high school. He took care of the monasterys garden.
He was curious why some plants were like their parents & others were not. He cross pollinated the pea plants by brushing pollen from the stamens of one plant to the pistil of another. Peas normally self pollinate so he had to take the stamens that make pollen off the second plant.

The Augustinian Abbey of St Thomas, Brno

In the early 1800s

Mendels experiment

Flower: Plant organ for sexual reproduction, that produces gametes (sex cells) and are necessary for fertilization to occur

First : Observation

Concepts: Heritable features are characters and their variations are traits. Traits are determined by factors

Terminologies coined: Dominant/Recessive/Traits/Factors

Second: Interpret results

Second : Interpret results

Test cross Purple Pp X White pp

Third : Validate the idea further

??

Modern terminologies

Linking the concept of Mendelian factors with our understanding of chromosomes Modern terms : genetics, genes, allele
1. How many sets of chromosome do we carry?
2. How many versions (alleles) of a gene can we carry if every chromosome is in pair? 3. What happens during the meiosis? Do the gene pairs stay together? 4. What happens then to the paternal and maternal sets of genes that we inherited ?

A law valid for all genes

Will this represent a deviation from Mendelian laws of inheritance??

What is the bare essential of Mendelian law/s of Inheritance?

Law of segregation
1. Allele pairs segregate (separate) during gamete formation, and randomly unite at fertilization .

2. Members of a pair of homologous chromosomes separate during the formation of gametes (meiosis) and are distributed to different gametes so that every gamete receives only one member of the pair

Independent assortment (How different Mendelian factors are distributed following segregation)

Independent assortment (How different Mendelian factors are distributed following segregation)