The Work of Gregor Mendel

What is genetics? Why study

it?
Genetics

= study of heredity
Heredity = passing on of
characteristics from parents to
offspring
Geneticists study genes, stretches of
DNA, that code for proteins

What are some features

in humans that
everyone has in
common?

What are some

features that are
different from
human to human?

Why pea plants?

Easy

to grow and mature quickly

Structure & method of pollination made
them easy to use in controlled experiments:
could self-fertilize or cross-fertilize
Different plants show contrasting traits
Characteristic

= heritable feature that varies

among individuals, ex: flower color
Trait = different varieties for a characteristic,
ex: purple or white flowers

Why did Mendel Choose the Pea?

Flower Structure/ allowed controlled mating
Many variable traits/ simple traits
Fast Generation Time

Gregor Mendel
Genetics

the scientific
study of heredity

Gregor

Mendel (born in
1822) worked with true
breeding garden peas to
study inheritance

True

breeding produce
offspring identical to
themselves when they selfpollinate

White

Removed
stamens
from purple
flower

Flower color

Stamens
Carpel
PARENTS
(P)

Purple

White

Axial

Terminal

Seed color

Yellow

Green

Seed shape

Round

Wrinkled

Pod shape

Inflated

Constricted

Pod color

Green

Yellow

Tall

Dwarf

Flower position

2 Transferred
Purple

pollen from
stamens of white
flower to carpel
of purple flower

3 Pollinated carpel

matured into pod

Planted
seeds
from pod

OFFSPRING
(F1)

Stem length

Genes and Dominance

Mendel

crossed plants with seven different pea

plant traits that each had two contrasting
characteristics and studied the offspring.

generation original pair of plants

F1 generation 1st generation of offspring
F2 generation 2nd generation of offspring

Mendels Crosses
Self-pollination

sperm cells fertilize

egg cells of the same plant (i.e. one
parent, but still sexual reproduction)
True-breeding plants if allowed to selfpollinate, they would always produce
offspring identical to themselves

Ex: true-breeding short plants always have

offspring that are short when then self-pollinate

The F1 Cross
Mendel

wondered if the recessive alleles had

disappeared or if they still existed in the F 1
generation.
He let the F1 plants self-pollinate creating the F 2
generation.

Traits

controlled by the recessive alleles reappeared

in 1/4th of the F2 generation.

Mendel made two conclusions:

Inheritance is determined by factors passed on
from one generation to the next.

1.

Genes pieces of DNA that determine a trait

Alleles different forms of genes
Some alleles are dominant and others are
recessive. (Principle of Dominance)

2.

Dominant allele always expressed as a

trait when present (represented by a capital
letter)
Recessive allele only expressed when the
dominant allele is not present (represented
by a lower case letter)

Current genetic
terminology
Phenotype

is the outward
appearance; ex: tall or short height
Memory trick:
Genotype

is the genes
Phenotype is the physical feature you see

General Terms:
Homozygous

having two identical alleles for a

trait (ex: TT homozygous dominant or tt
homozygous recessive)

Heterozygous

trait (ex: Tt)

Hybrid

having two different alleles for a

offspring of crosses with different traits

Genotype

TT, Tt or tt)

genetic makeup of an individual (ex:

Phenotype

physical appearance of an individual

Probability

the likelihood that an event will

(ex: brown, tall)

occur

The Albino Trait

Genetics and Probability

Mendel

realized that probability could be used to

explain the results of genetic crosses.

Punnett Squares:
T tall
50% Tt tall
t short
short

Possible

25% TT tall
25% tt

offspring of a Tt x Tt cross:
75% chance - tall and 25% - short (3:1 ratio)

Mendels Law of Segregation:

As seen in P and F1 generations
Dad

T = tall

(dominant)

t = short

(recessive)

Parental!

Mom

TT x

meiosis
Gametes?

Punnett
Square for
monohybrid
crosses

tt

Mendels Law of Segregation:

As seen in P and F1 generations
Dad

T = tall

(dominant)

t = short

(recessive)

Parent 2 Gametes

Parent 1 Gametes

Tt
tall

Tt
tall

Tt
tall

Tt
tall

Mom

TT x

Parental!

tt

meiosis

Tt

Gametes

Genotype = 100% Tt
Phenotype = 100% tall

Mendels Law of Segregation:

As seen in P and F1 generations
Dad

T = tall

Tt

(dominant)

t = short

Mom

Tt

(recessive)

T
Probabilities?

TT
tall

Tt
tall

Tt
tall

t T

Offspring = F2
generation
t t genotype = 1 TT: 2 Tt:
1 tt
short
phenotype = 3 tall : 1

Practicing with Punnett Squares

Parents Tt and tt
T
t

Parents TT and Tt
T
T

Tt

tt

TT

TT

Tt

tt

Tt

Tt

Offspring:
50% Tt tall
50% tt short
ratio - (2:2) or (1:1)

Offspring:
100% TT or Tt tall
ratio - (4:0)

Beyond Dominant & Recessive

Some genes are neither dominant nor
recessive and many traits are controlled by
multiple alleles or multiple genes.
Incomplete

Dominance neither allele is

completely dominant so the heterozygous
phenotype is a blending of traits
Ex:

four oclocks - red flower crossed

with white flower produces pink flower

Codominance
Q: What does cooperate mean?
A: Operate together
Codominance = when both alleles are expressed;
neither is dominant nor recessive
Q: If the two homozygotes are red and white,
whats the phenotype of the heterozygote?
A: The heterozygote shows red and white hairs
Roan

coat in cows and horses

Both

red and white hairs are present

 Codominance

both alleles are

dominant so both traits show in the
heterozygous phenotype

Ex: chickens white chicken crossed with

black chicken produces black and white
speckled chicken

Multiple

Alleles many genes have

three or more alleles of the same gene

Ex: blood type

Polygenic

traits traits that are

controlled by two or more genes; show a
wide range of phenotypes.

Ex: skin color is controlled by at least 4

genes

Sex Linked Traits

Q: What are the two types of chromosomes?
A: Sex chromosomes and autosomes
Q: How many sex chromosomes are there?
What are they? What do the different
combinations mean?
A: Two sex chromosomes X & Y
XX = female
XY = male

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