Hereditary Notes:

DNA
❖ A double stranded, helical nucleic acid.
❖ There are 4 different bases (parts/building
❖ blocks) that make up DNA.
❖ Adenine, Guanine, Thymine, and Cytosine. Often referred to as A’s,
G’s, T’s, and C’s
❖ Stores your hereditary information, it stores the information for your
genes!!
❖ Deoxyribonucleic Acid

Gene
● The basic physical and functional unit of heredity
● A portion of DNA that codes for a protein

Chromosomes
● are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of animal and
plant cells.
● Found in the nucleus.
● Chromosomes are really just the form DNA
● Humans have 46 chromosomes.
● One set of 23 chromosomes from mom.
● One set of 23 chromosomes from dad.
● Human Chromosomes

Types of Chromosomes:
● Autosomes = Body chromosomes or non sex chromosomes (
humans have 44 or 22 pairs)
● Sex Chromosomes = XX or XY (23rd pair for humans) determines the
sex of the offspring
● XX- Female
● XY- Male
Types of Chromosomes based on the position of centromere:

Chromatid:
● Two exact copies of a chromosome that are connected together.
● The point where they are connected near the middle is called the
centromere.
● Chromatids are made when new cells are going to be made.

Eukaryotic Chromosome Structure:

■ Chromosomes are only visible when a cell is dividing so we usually see
them in their double-stranded form.

Diploid (2n) ​: two sets of chromosomes

● Found in all the non-sex cells or autosomes of an organism's body
(with a few exceptions).
● Examples include humans (46), crayfish (200), etc.

Haploid (n):​ contains one set of chromosomes.

● In the life cycle of many animals, only sperm and egg cells(sex cells)
have the haploid number.
● Examples include humans (23), crayfish (100), etc.

Vocabulary
● Gamete​: sex cells= sperm or egg
● Fusion of gametes forms a zygote.
● A zygote always has a full or diploid (2n) number of chromosomes
- A fertilized egg cell. (sperm + egg)

Homologous Chromosomes

- are made up of ​chromosome pairs​ of approximately the same

length, centromere position, and staining pattern, for genes with the
same corresponding loci. One ​homologous chromosome​ is
inherited from the organism's mother; the other is inherited from the
organism's father.
• Chromosomes containing the same type of genetic information
• one comes from male parent, one comes from female parent
 - The first 22 pairs of homologous chromosomes are called
autosomes or autosomal chromosomes.
- The 23rd pair of chromosomes determines the sex of the
individual and are called sex chromosomes.

- The sex chromosomes of a female are XX.

- The sex chromosomes of a male are XY

Cell cycle
- The sequence of growth and division of a cell

2 major Phase
- Interphase
- Mitosis
Interphase
● the stage in the life cycle of a cell where the cell grows and DNA
together with the organelles replicated , nucleus split into 2
● 93% of a cell’s life is spent in interphase.
● 3 phases

– G1 phase​ = cells do most of their growing

• Increase in size and synthesize new proteins and organelles

– S phase ​= chromosomes are replicated and the synthesis and DNA

molecules takes place
• Usually if a cell enters S phase and begins replication, it completes
the rest of the cycle

– G2 phase​ = many of the organelles and molecules required for cell

division are produced
• Shortest of the 3 phases of interphase
Chromosomes
• ​Chromatin​ - granular material visible within the nucleus; consists of
DNA tightly coiled around proteins
• ​Chromatid -​ one of two identical “sister” parts of a duplicated
chromosome
• ​Centromere​ - an area where the chromatids are attached to one
another
Cell Division

Is the process where cells divides, producing 2 daughter cells

– Each daughter cell is an exact replica of the parent cell

2 types
- Mitosis
- Meiosis

Mitosis
2 Stages
1. Mitosis​- division of the nucleus into two identical cell nuclei.
• In some Human cells, interphases last 16 hours, while mitosis lasts only 2
hours.
2. Cytokinesis​- division of the cytoplasm

Mitosis is Divided into 4 phases:

❏ Prophase
❏ Metaphase
❏ Anaphase
❏ Telophase
• Followed with Cytokinesis

A. Prophase
• 1st and longest phase of mitosis
• ​Events:
– Chromosomes become visible
– Centrioles separate and move to opposite sides of the cell
– Chromosomes become attached to fibers in the spindle at the centromere
– Chromosomes coil more tightly
– Nucleolus disappears
– Nuclear envelope breaks down

B. Metaphase
• Often lasts only a few minutes
• ​Events:
– Chromosomes line up across the center of the cell
– Microtubules connect the centromere of each chromosome to the two
poles of the spindle

C. Anaphase
• Centromeres split
• Sister chromatids separate and move to opposite poles
• Anaphase ends when chromosomes stop moving

D. Telophase
• Chromosomes begin to disperse into a chromatin
• Nuclear envelope re-forms around each cluster of chromosomes
• Spindle begins to break apart
• Nucleolus becomes visible

E. Cytokinesis
• Occurs at the same time as telophase

• ​Animal cells:
– Cell membrane is drawn inward until the cytoplasm is pinched into 2
nearly equal parts

• Plant cells:
– Cell plate forms midway between the divided nuclei
– Cell wall begins to appear in the cell plate

• Result? 2 new identical cells

Mitosis​: occurs in body cells/somatic cells

- produces genetically identical cells
- results in diploid (2n) cells
Ex​.46 chromosomes in humans
- takes place throughout an organism’s lifetime

Cell cycle Importance: Mitosis

1.development of embryos
2.growth and development of our bodies
3.Production of new cells
4.Replacement of cells that are old, lost or damaged

Note: cells normally dies( apoptosis: cell death)

Uncontrolled Cell Growth
● Cancer- disorder in which some of the body’s own cells lose the
ability to control growth
● Cancer cells do not respond to the signals that regulate the growth of
most cells

Meiosis
is a process where a single cell divides twice to produce four cells
containing half the original amount of genetic information. These cells are
our sex cells – sperm in males, eggs in females.

• Diploid (2n) → haploid (n)

• Meiosis is sexual reproduction.
• Has two divisions (meiosis I and meiosis II).
• Sex cells divide to produce gametes (sperm or egg).
• Gametes have half the # of chromosomes.
• Occurs only in gonads (testes or ovaries).
- Male: spermatogenesis
- Female: oogenesis
• Meiosis is similar to mitosis with some chromosomal differences.