Question Bank On Heredity and Evolution

Class: 10

1. Offspring produced from the same parent/parents are similar but not identical.
Justify the statement 2

Ans.
 Basic event in the reproduction is DNA copying.
 As no biochemical reaction is absolutely reliable therefore there are variations
each time DNA is copied.
 As a result, DNA copies formed will be similar but may not be identical. So the
offsprings produced from the same parents are similar but not identical.

2.Do all the variations in a species have equal chances of surviving in the environment in
which they find themselves? Justify the statement with the help of a suitable example. 1

Ans. No, some variations might be so drastic that new DNA copy cannot work with
the cellular apparatus it inherits. Such a new borne cell will simply die.

3. In the process of reproduction why is it important that the DNA copying is accurate?.1
Ans. DNA has the information for making proteins. Inaccurate DNA copying will lead
to different proteins which will lead to different body designs.

4. Define the following terms: 3

a. Heredity
b. variation
c. mutation

Ans. Heredity – It refers to the transmission of characters or traits from the parents to
their offsprings.
Variation- It refers to the differences in the characters or traits among the individuals
of a population.

Mutation- A mutation is a change that occurs in our DNA sequence, either due to
mistakes when the DNA is copied or as the result of environmental factors such as UV
light and cigarette smoke.
5.List the contrasting characters in pea plants that Gregor Mendel studied?
Ans.
6.List two benefits that variation gives a species

Ans.
 They enable the organisms to adopt themselves in changing environment.
 They form raw materials for evolution and development of new species.
7.Mention the source of information of protein synthesis in a cell. What are the basic events
in reproduction? 3
Ans.
 DNA has the information for making proteins.
 The basic event of reproduction is DNA copying.
 Inaccurate DNA copying will lead to different proteins which will lead to
different body designs.

8.Describe Mendel's experiment which proved the Law of Dominance, Law of segregation
and Law of Independent Assortment.

Law of Dominance

Parent: TT X tt

Gametes T t

F1 Generation : Tt All Tall Plants

Selfing of F1 progenies

Tt X Tt

T t
TT Tt
T
 Tt tt
t

This law states that in a heterozygous condition, the allele whose

characters are expressed over the other allele is called the dominant
allele and the characters of this dominant allele are called dominant
characters. The characters that appear in the F1 generation are called
as dominant characters. The recessive characters appear in the F2
generation.

Law of Segregation

Parent: TT X tt

Gametes T t

F1 Generation : Tt All Tall Plants

Selfing of F1 progenies

Tt X Tt

T t
TT Tt
T
Tt tt
t

This law states that when two traits come together in one hybrid pair,
the two characters do not mix with each other and are independent of
each other. Each gamete receives one of the two alleles during
meiosis of the chromosome.
Mendel’s law of segregations supports the phenotypic ratio of 3:1 i.e.
the homozygous dominant and heterozygous offsprings show
dominant traits while the homozygous recessive shows the
recessive trait.

Law of Independent Assortment

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This means that at the time of gamete formation, the two genes
segregate independently of each other as well as of other traits. Law
of independent assortment emphasizes that there are separate genes
for separate traits and characters and they influence and sort
themselves independently of the other genes.

This law also says that at the time of gamete and zygote formation,
the genes are independently passed on from the parents to the
offspring.
9. How did Mendel prove that all inherited traits are not expressed?

Ans.
 Mendel crossed a tall pea plant with a short pea plant
 All the pea plants produced in the F1 generation were tall.
 When the F1 tall plants were self-pollinated , the F2 generation consisted of both tall
and short plants.
 It explains that the dominant trait expresses itself in the F1 plants,where the recessive
trait (shortness ) is hidden.
 The appearance of short plants in the F2 indicates that the trait shortness has been
inherited by the F1 plants but not expressed.

12. In a certain þlant red colour of the flowers is the dominant trait over White colour.
Work out the test cross, using homozvgous individuals with contrasting alleles as F1
parents,and selfing Fl offspring as F2 parents. Write down the phenotypic and
genotypic ratios for both generations.

Parent: RR X rr

Gametes R r

F1 Generation : Rr All red Flowers

Selfing of F1 progenies

Rr X Rr

R r
RR Rr
R
Rr rr
r

The phenotypic ratio of 3:1

The genotypic ratio 1:2:1

10.In a certain breed of sheep curled fur is the dominant trait over smooth fur. Work out
the test cross, using homozvgous individuals with contrasting alleles as F1 parents, and

selfng F1 offspring as F2 parents, Write down the phenotypic and genotypic ratios for
both generations. 5
 Ans.

Parent: CC X cc

Gametes : C c

F1 Generation : Cc All curled

Selfing of F1 progenies

Cc X Cc

C c
CC Cc
C
Cc cc
c

The phenotypic ratio of 3:1

The genotypic ratio 1:2:1

11. How does the mechanism of heredity work? lllustrate your

answer with an appropriate example. 3

Ans.
 If both parents help to determine the trait in the progeny, both parents must be
contributing a copy of the same gene.
 Thus ,each pea plant must have two sets of all genes are inherited from each parent, so
each germ cell must have only one gene set.
 Each gene set is present,not as a single long thread of DNA, but as a separate
independent pieces, each called chromosome, one from male and one from female
parent.
 When two germ cells combine ,they will restore the normal number of chromosomes
in the progeny ensuring the stability of DNA species.
 Therefore,such mechanism of inheritance explains the result of the Mendels
experiments and used by all sexually reproducing organisms.

12.How is the sex of a human child determined? Elaborate your answer with the help of a test
cross.
Ans.The sex of the child is determined genetically in humans.
Women have a perfect pair of sex chromosomes i.e. XX whereas men have a mismatched
pair i.e. XY. All eggs produced will carry the X chromosome. Half of the sperms will carry Y
chromosome and the other half will carry X chromosome.
During fertilisation, when the egg fuses with a sperm carrying Y chromosome, a boy will be
formed On the other hand, when the egg fuses with a sperm carrying X chromosome, the
offspring will be a girl child.

Parents XX (Female) XY(Male)

↓ ↓
Gametes X X Y
Female
→ X X
Male↓
XX XX(female
X
(female) )
XY
Y XY (male)
(male)

13. What is a dihybrid cross? In Mendel's experiment green colour of the pea seeds was
found to be dominant over yellow while their round shape was dominant over wrinkled. What
was the result obtained in this experiment.
Ans. “Dihybrid cross is the cross between two different genes that differ
in two observed traits.”

or

A dihybrid cross describes a mating experiment between two organisms that are
identically hybrid for two traits. A hybrid organism is one that is heterozygous,
which means that carries two different alleles at a particular genetic position or
locus.
Given the principles revealed in a monohybrid cross, Mendel hypothesized that the result of
two characters segregating simultaneously (a dihybrid cross) would be the product of their
independent occurrence. Consider two characters, seed color and seed shape. As
previously shown, Y dominates y to determine seed color, and R factor for "round"
dominates the r factor for "wrinkled" to determine seed shape. He then proceeded to test his
hypothesis experimentally.

The P (Parental) cross is between true-breeding lines of wrinkled yellow peas (rrYY)
and round green peas (RRyy). The F1 offspring are therefore all RrYy, and are all round
and yellow. In forming the F2 plants, the alleles at the two loci segregate independently.

Conclusion: when two traits or characters aretaken into cosideration. Theyare inherited
independentaly.