Biology 234 Week 2

Week 2 Reading Assignment 1 –DNA Replication, Mitosis, Meiosis, Mendelian segregation, and
Independent Assortment

Complete the pre-reading and Canvas Reading Quiz by 9am Monday, July 8th.

***Please note that most of this material is considered review of concepts learned in previous courses –
things you are already expected to know. Make sure you feel comfortable with this material, especially
the questions in the Mitosis/Meiosis Refresher because it is critical to understanding genetics, and we
are not going to spend much class time reviewing it***
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1. What is a chromosome? When you see drawings like these:

Both are chromosomes. The circle or ball drawn on each is a centromere. 1 ball = 1 chromosome. The
difference between the two chromosomes above is that the single line (“stick”) on the left is an
unreplicated chromosome and the chromosome composed of two line (“sticks”) is a replicated
chromosome. Both represent a single chromosome (it’s just that one is a replicated chromosome)

What is a chromatid? When a chromosome has been replicated like the one on the right each individual
line is a chromatid or sister chromatid. Right after DNA replication has occurred, and before M phase,
these two sister chromatids should be identical. Some people might say that an unreplicated
chromosome has only one chromatid. It does look like that, but geneticists usually don’t say that.

Readings from IGA 12th edition

1. Ch 7. Section 7.5 DNA Replication in Eukaryotes pp. 258-260.

2. Chapter 2, Introduction (pp. 30-32), Section 2.1 (all), Section 2.2 (all) and Section 2.3 (pp.41-42,stop
before “Demonstrating chromosome segregation at the molecular level”), Fig 2-11 (p.43), Fig 2-12
(p.43), Section 2.4 (all), Appendix 2-1 and 2-2 (pp. 75-77);

3. Mitosis/Meiosis Refresher (set of review questions found in Week 3 module)

4. Chapter 3: chapter introduction and Sections 3.1 (all), 3.2 up to “Using the chi-square test...” and
then starting again within 3.2 at “Synthesizing pure lines” to the end of the section, Section 3.3
stopping before “Independent assortment in haploid organisms” pp. 79-86, 88-92

Chromosomes and how they are replicated: See #1 above, and any other source
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● Recall from previous reading and courses (consult your textbook glossary/index and/or websites to
refresh your memory if needed):

○ what is a homologous pair of chromosomes – draw them.

○ What are sister chromatids? What are non-sister chromatids? Draw them.

○ How are the chromosomes of a homologous pair the same? How are they different?

○ What does 2n mean? What does the 2 indicate?

○ If you were told an organism is 2n=2, how many pairs of homologous chromosomes would there be?
How many pairs of homologous chromosomes are in a 2n=6 cell?

•Eukaryotic chromosomes are long compared to bacterial chromosomes. How do they replicate their
DNA efficiently? See Fig. 7-20 What structure is missing from the replicated chromosome (shown as two
sister chromatids) at the bottom of figure 7-20?

•In Fig 7-21 at the bottom, what are the two molecules each composed of a blue and a yellow strand?
Are they homologous chromosomes? Non-homologous chromosomes? Sister chromatids?

Mitosis and meiosis: Section 2.2 (all) Section 2.3 up to “Demonstrating chromosome segregation at
the molecular level” and Appendix 2-1and 2-2 pp. 36-43, 75-77

Examine mitosis in a diploid cell in Figure 2-12, and Appendix 2-1 on pg. 75.

• Assume the parent cell in Appendix 2-1 is a 2n=6 cell. Draw the 2n=6 cell going through mitosis. At
each stage describe what is happening to the chromosomes. Label the homologous pairs, and sister
chromatids.

• When does a chromosome consist of one chromatid? When does a chromosome consist of two
chromatids?

• Regarding Figure 2-6: What is the biological purpose of mitosis, compared to meiosis?

• How does the ploidy of the progenitor cell (or meiocyte) compare to that of the daughter cells of
mitosis and the gametes of meiosis?

• Compare “mitosis in a diploid cell” to “meiosis” in Figure 2-12. Identify when and where the two
processes differ. Describe the differences by explaining what is happening to the chromosomes (e.g.: are
homologous chromosomes or chromatids separating? Is the ploidy or DNA content the same or
changing? Is the genotype the same or different compared to the progenitor cell?)

This is not really reading....its DOING but doing these questions will save us time in both lecture and in
your Week 3 tutorial. We will have questions on your reading quiz that will relate back to this refresher
activity
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Pg. 41 “Molecular aspects of gene transmission” (within Section 2.3) & Figure 2-11.

● Pay particular attention to the fact that a chromosome consisting of one chromatid is a double
helix.

● Look at Figure 2-11

○ Which chromatids are sister chromatids?

○ Which are homologous non-sister chromatids?

○ Why do sister chromatids have identical alleles?

○ In which situation do the non-sister chromatids always have different alleles? The same
alleles?

○ If each box in Figure 2-11 proceeds through mitosis, what genotype will the daughter cells
have?

Mendel and segregation Section 2.1 (pp. 32-36) and Section 2.4 (pp. 45-48)

• Regarding Section 2.1 (Mendel’s pioneering experiments) pg. 32, Figure 2-5 & associated text:

o What does F1 mean? F2?

o What do we call the individuals that were crossed to create an F1?

o What is a monohybrid?

o What are the genotypes of the parentals in Figure 2-5?

o In the F1, which parent contributed the Y allele? The y allele?

o The F2 generations shown in Figure 2-5 are from two different crosses:

§ For the F1 yellow that was selfed, what is the phenotypic ratio of the F2 progeny?
§ For the F1 yellow that was crossed with a pure green, what is the phenotypic ratio of the F2 progeny?

o What genotypes and phenotypes would the parentals have to create an F1 generation with a 3:1
phenotypic ratio?

• Refer to point #6 & #7 within “Mendel’s law of equal segregation” on pg. 35

o Point #6 refers to a “gene pair”. Look at meiosis in Figure 2-12. The “a” and the “A” alleles are
considered a gene pair.
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o Refer to Figure 2-5. Re-draw “Mendel’s explanation” using cells and chromosomes labelled with
the alleles.

o Using your drawing, explain the concept of equal segregation in your own words (imagine you
have to explain it to a non-science friend).

Within section 2.4 “A gene active in the development of flower colour” (pg. 46)

§ What are the gamete genotypes produced by the parents?

§ What are the gamete genotypes produced by the F1? Which of these gametes fuse to create
the 1⁄4 albino (white) flowers?

§ Which F2 genotypes combine to make the 3⁄4 which are wild-type (red)?

§ What is a testcross? A tester? What are they used for?

Independent Assortment Chapter 3 chapter introduction, Section 3.1 (all) 3.2 (up to “Using the chi-
square test..”) pp. 79-86, resume Section 3.2 at “Synthesizing pure lines”, Section 3.3 up to
“Independent assortment in haploid organisms” pp. 90-91
● Use a drawing to explain the law of independent assortment (gene pairs on different chromosome
pairs assort independently at meiosis)

○ How does the orientation of homologous pairs before they separate (at metaphase) affect
independent assortment?

○ How do the products of meiosis tell you that genes assort independently?

• Read the first paragraph of section 3.1 pg. 81:

o When considering one gene with two alleles, what are the possible genotypes a diploid organism
could have?

o What is a dihybrid?

o What is an example of a dihybrid genotype?

o Recall: using genotype notation to interpret the location of genes on chromosomes - based on the
way the following genotype is written for a 2n=8 organism, draw a cell with chromosomes labelled with
the alleles: genotype is A/a; B/b; C/C; D/d

● Look at Figure 3-8 pg. 92

○ What is the genotype of the meiocyte?

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○ How many gamete genotypes can be produced in one meiosis?

○ What are all of the possible gamete genotypes (e.g. if multiple meiotic divisions happen)?

● What does a 9:3:3:1 phenotype ratio suggest? What are all the things you can conclude based on
observing this phenotype ratio?

● What genotypes are represented by the 9/16, 3/16, 3/16, and 1/16 phenotype classes?

● What does a 1:1:1:1 phenotype ratio suggest? What are all the things you can conclude based on
observing this phenotype ratio?

● What are the genotypes represented in each of the 1:1:1:1 phenotype classes?

• Work through solved problem #2 (Section of Solved problems) on pg. 104.