Chapter 10: Patterns of Inheritance

Genetics = the study of inheritance

 Gregor Mendel: one of the first people to study genetics in a systematic way. Worked
out patterns of inheritance
o Uncovered basic laws of inheritance
o Used pea plants. Pea plants are both male and female
o Discovered the law of segregation
 Two different chromosomes from two different parents, two alleles and
then segregate from each other in terms of different gamete. One
gamete is fertilized is random. Segregation of alleles
o Independent assortment: chromosomes are going to assort independently
 True-breeding: plants produce offspring identical to themselves
 Hybrid: plants outwardly resemble true-breeders but produce mixed offspring
o Some alleles are dominant: exert effects whenever they are dominant. Crossing
a yellow-seed plant with a green-seed plant always yields some yellow seeds
 Dominant over other traits
o Some alleles are recessive: effect is masked if a dominant allele is also present
 Why do some plants produce both yellow and green seeds. The answer has to do with
each plant
 Deduced the law of segregation: Mendel’s experiments showed that the two alleles of
each gene “segregate” (move apart from each other) during gamete formation
o Meiosis explains the law of segregation
 In meiosis, the two alleles for the seed color gene are packaged into
separate gametes. Which gamete is used in fertilization is random
o Meiosis explains the law of independent assortment
DNA= carries out genes;
 Gene: Portion of DNA whose sequence of nucleotides (A,C,G and T) encodes a protein
o Protein will determine our characteristics
Chromosome: packets of genetic information
 Chromosomes are long strands of DNA wrapped around histone proteins
 Each chromosomes contains many different genes, genes that encode for a specific
protein
 Chromosomes are passed on during cell division
o Humans have 46 chromosomes in total
o We inherit 23 from each parent when male and female gametes fuse at
fertilization
 Chromosomes are paired in diploid cells
o After fertilization, the zygote is diploid-it has two sets of chromosomes
o Each chromosome is a member of a homologous pair

This study source was downloaded by 100000807522385 from CourseHero.com on 04-01-2024 21:28:21 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/34966224/Chapter-10-Patterns-of-Inheritancedocx/
 o Diploid cells have two alleles for each gene. Members of a homologous pair have
the same genes but might have different versions (alleles) of those genes. These
alleles might be identical gene A or different B.
 Genes on different chromosomes are inherited separately
o Because genes assort independently, we can predict the genotypic and
phenotype ratios of the offspring
o Genes on the same chromosome are inherited together
 Genes that are physically near each other on the same chromosome do
not sort independently
 They are linked, or inherited together
 Different rations will be seen in offspring
 Mutations create new alleles
o Mutations: changes in DNA nucleotide sequence
o Often they cause altered proteins to be produced
 Typical sequence of DNA = wild-type “F” allele
 Mutated “f” allele, can affect protein synthesis (translation, transcription)
 Mutations can be harmful, helpful or have no impact on an
organism
 Genotype: represents an individual’s two alleles for one gene
o Homozygous dominant: individuals have two dominant alleles for each gene (YY)
o Heterozygous: individuals have one dominant and one recessive allele (Yy)
o Homozygous recessive: individuals have two recessive alleles (yy)
o Genotype is responsible for the phenotype
 Phenotype: Physical appearance, for example, an observable
characteristic such as seed color
 The phenotype is determined by how the alleles interact with each
other
 Look at offspring to determine the genotype of the parent.
Individuals with the same phenotype can have different genotypes
 How do genotypes lead to phenotypes?
o The seed color gene encodes a pigment-metabolizing
enzyme. Allele Y encodes an active enzyme, producing
yellow pigment
o Due to a mutation, allele y encodes an inactive enzyme
and does produce yellow pigment
o One gene can influence many phenotypes
 In pleiotropy, one gene has multiple effects on the phenotype. For
example, a gene might affect more than one biochemical pathway.
Marfan syndrome is a type of pleiotropy
o Sex-linked genes – carry sex chromosomes
 In humans, females have two X chromosomes (XX). Males have X
chromosome and one Y chromosome (XY).

This study source was downloaded by 100000807522385 from CourseHero.com on 04-01-2024 21:28:21 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/34966224/Chapter-10-Patterns-of-Inheritancedocx/
 Most human sex-linked traits are controlled by genes on the X

chromosome, so they are called “X-linked”
 Male only have one allele for x-linked genes but females have two.
Whichever allele males have on their single X chromosome is the
one that is expressed as a phenotype. The Y chromosome does
not have alleles for x-linked genes
 Whatever percentage for daughter, only look at half a square
o X-linked recessive disorders affect more males than females
 Males only need to inherit one x-linked recessive allele to express the
recessive disorder
 Females must receive two recessive alleles to express the recessive
disorder
o X-inactivation prevents double dosing of gene products and unique inheritance
patterns
 Each cell is an XX individual, such as these female cats, randomly
inactivates one X chromosome. The genes on the inactivated
chromosome won’t be used to produce proteins
 X chromosomes are randomly inactivated.
o Albinism is a autosomal recessive condition
o Males only have one X chromosome. Male carriers would exert the phenotype
o The environment can alter phenotype
 Siamese cats have a mutation in a gene for an enzyme responsible for
pigment production in their fur
 The mutated enzyme is active only in cool body parts
o Some traits depend on multiple genes
 For example, human skin color is a polygenic trait; it is affected by more
than one gene
 Most of our genes are polygenic, it is affected by more than one
gene
 The more dominant alleles a person has, the darker their skin.
Equal numbers of dominant and recessive alleles produce a
medium skin tone
Punnett squares represent gamete formation and fertilization
 Likelihood of offspring they produce
 Shows the genotypes
 Shows how the alleles separate during meiosis
o When germ cells divide by meiosis, the gametes receive one allele per gene
o For the seed color gene, there is an equal change of receiving either allele Y or y
 Shows expected proportions of offspring
 Is a prediction showing the relative proportion
 Helps answers Mendel’s questions
 Incompletely dominant alleles do not mask each other – creating a new genotype

This study source was downloaded by 100000807522385 from CourseHero.com on 04-01-2024 21:28:21 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/34966224/Chapter-10-Patterns-of-Inheritancedocx/
  Codominant alleles do not mask each other. Blood type. Can have A blood type, B blood
type, AB and O blood type. AB and AB can be codominant
Offspring could inherit two dominant alleles
Offspring could inherit both dominant and recessive alleles
Offspring could inherit two recessive alleles

 Test cross can reveal parental genotypes

o If pea pods came out with all yellow seeds then one of the parent’s have to be
homozygous dominant
 A test cross can reveal parental genotypes: heterozygous
o If a cross between a yellow-seed pea plant and a green-seed pea plant yields
some green seeds then the yellow-seed parent must be heterozygous (Yy)
 Dihybrid crosses track the inheritance of two genes at once
o Big Punnett square
o Two genes on different chromosomes can be shown in one large Punnett
square
Crossing over: exchange of different alleles
 Genes can become “unlinked” during crossing over
 Crossing over physically separates the two genes onto two different chromosomes
 Produces new combinations of alleles
o Some of the gametes receive a recombinant chromatid, with a mix of alleles from
both parents
 Closely linked genes are less affected by crossing over
o By determining the percentage of recombinant offspring, investigators can infer
how far apart the genes are on one chromosome
 Crossover events are counted by tallying up offspring in which the genes
are inherited separately
 Not all genes follow Mendelian inheritance patterns
o Alleles do not interact this way for all genes

This study source was downloaded by 100000807522385 from CourseHero.com on 04-01-2024 21:28:21 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/34966224/Chapter-10-Patterns-of-Inheritancedocx/
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)