Mendel and Punnet Squares

Gregor Mendel (1822-1884)

• Father of genetics
• parents
were________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
• became an_________________________________________________________________
• Work was
largely____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Mendel chose to work with peas, because:

1. ___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Mendel’s Experiments
• Mendel bred a pure-bred (means if two pure-bred individuals are bred
together, they would only produce offspring with the same characteristics)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
• These two individuals were called the
_______________________________________.

• The offspring of the parental generation were

_______________________________.
- Mendel counted and recorded the numbers and characteristics of
these offspring.
•He then bred
_______________________________________________________________.
•The offspring of the _________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
- Mendel counted and recorded the numbers and characteristics of
these offspring.

Mendel’s Results and Conclusions

• The F1 generation always showed only one trait

______________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
.
• The F1 generation must be carrying
__________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
.
• Some individuals in the F2 generation showed the
____________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
.
• Each individual has two "factors" that determine what external appearance
the offspring will have.
_________________________________________________________________________.

Mendel’s Laws
• 1. The Principle of Dominance and Recessiveness - one
_______________________
______________________________________________________________________________
• 2. Principle of Segregation - the
______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
• 3. Principle of Independent Assortment -
_____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
; another way to look at this is, whether a flower is purple has nothing to do
with the length of the plants stems - each trait is independently inherited.

Modern Genetics
• Mendel's factors are now called ALLELES. For every trait a person has,
______ alleles determine how that trait is expressed.
• We use ___________ to denote alleles, since every gene has two alleles, all
genes can be represented by a pair of letters.
• PP = purple, Pp = purple, pp = white
• Homozogyous: when the _________________________, the individual is said to
be homozygous, or pure breeding. Letters designating a homozgyous
individual could be capital or lowercase, as long as they are the same. Ex. AA,
bb, EE, dd
• Heterozygous: when the ________________________, in this case the
DOMINANT allele is expressed. Ex. Pp, Aa
• Monohybrid cross = a cross involving one pair of contrasting traits. Ex. Pp
x Pp
• Punnet Square: used to determine the
_______________________________________
_____________________________ given the alleles of the parents
• Genotype: letters _____________________________ (BB, Pp..etc)
• Phenotype: _______________________________________ (brown, purple..)

Punnet Squares
• Used to predict the outcome of a cross.
• Sample Problem -

*In pea plants (which Gregor Mendel studied), tall pea plants are dominant
over short pea plants. Using Punnett Squares, you can predict the genotypes
and phenotypes of the offspring of a cross between a homozygous (purebred)
tall pea plant and a homozygous (purebred) short pea plant.
How to solve, Step 1
• Designate letters which will represent the genes/traits. Capital
letters represent dominant traits, and lowercase letters represent
recessive traits.

• T = tall t = short

Step 2
• Write down the genotypes (genes) of each parent. These are often
given to you or are possible to determine.

• TT X tt
• (tall) (short) - both homozygous (same) or purebred

Step 3
• Draw a Punnett square - 4 small squares in the shape of a window.
Write the possible gene(s) of one parent across the top and the
gene(s) of the other parent along the side of the Punnett square.

Step 4
• Fill in each box of the Punnett square by transferring the letter
above and in front of each box into each appropriate box. As a general
rule, the capital letter goes first and a lowercase letter follows.

Step 5
• List the possible genotypes and phenotypes of the offspring for
this cross.
• The letters inside the boxes indicate probable genotypes (genetic
makeup) of offspring resulting from the cross of these particular parents.
There are 4 boxes, and the genotypic results can be written either as
fractions or percents. In this case, all 4 boxes out of the 4 are showing the Tt
genotype. Therefore, each of the offspring has a 4/4 or 100% chance of
showing the Tt genotype.
What are the possible genotype(s) of a tall plant?

What are the possible genotype(s) of a short plant?

What would be the phenotype of TT?

What would be the phenotype of tt?

Why is the phenotype of Tt tall and not medium/average?