Monohybrid cross

HEREDITY AND GENETICS

AARIFA HOOSEIN-RIYASAT
Objectives of this lesson

 Students will correctly define the terms phenotype, genotype and monohybrid cross.
 Students will learn about Punnett Squares for monohybrid crosses.
 Students will complete Punnett Squares for monohybrid crosses.
 Students will be able to predict phenotypic and genotypic ratios for monohybrid crosses
based on the Punnett Square.
Definitions
What is a monohybrid cross?

“A monohybrid cross is the hybrid of two individuals with homozygous genotypes which
result in the opposite phenotype for a certain genetic trait.”
“The cross between two monohybrid traits (TT and tt) is called a Monohybrid Cross.”
Monohybrid cross is responsible for the inheritance of one gene. It can be easily shown
through a Punnett Square.
Monohybrid cross is used by geneticists to observe how homozygous off springs express
heterozygous genotypes inherited from their parents.
History of Monohybrid cross- Inheritance of
one gene

The mystery of genetics was unlocked during the mid-nineteenth century by Gregor Mendel.
He conducted an experiment on pea plants by cultivating the pea plants and observing the
pattern of inheritance in different stages of generation.
Mendel is the father of genetics. He proposed three laws- Law of Independent Assortment,
Law of Dominance, and Law of Segregation. These laws came into existence by experiments
on pea plants with a variety of traits.
Mendel investigated the pairs of pea plants with one contrasting trait. Mendel studied on the following seven
characters with contrasting traits:
 Flower colour: Violet/white
 Flower position: Axial/terminal
 Pod colour: Green/yellow
 Pod shape: Inflated/constricted
 Seed colour: Yellow/green
 Seed shape: Round/wrinkled
 Stem height: Tall/dwarf
He crossed two homozygous individuals which resulted in heterozygous offsprings. This was known as the
monohybrid cross.
How To Carry Out A Monohybrid Cross?

The ratios of the phenotype and the genotype that are estimated are only probabilities. Listed
below are steps that can be used to calculate a monohybrid cross:
1. Indicate the alleles using characters – recessive alleles can be indicated by lower case
letters while dominant alleles can be indicated by upper case letters
2. Note down both the phenotype and the genotype of the parents or the parental generation
that are being crossed
3. Jot down the genotype of the gametes from the parental generation – As a result of meiotic
division, the gametes will be haploid
4. Tabulate a Punnett square to chalk out the probable combinations of the gametes – Any
combination is possible is the process of fertilization is random
5. The phenotype and the genotype ratios of the prospective offspring can be written. The
outcome hence obtained is known as the F1 generation. The F2, F3 etc generations form the
subsequent generations.
Monohybrid Cross Example

Gregor Mendel’s Peas

For monohybrid cross, Mendel began with a pair of pea plants with two contrasting traits i.e.,
one tall and another dwarf. The cross-pollination of tall and dwarf plants resulted in tall
plants. All the hybrid plants were tall. He called this as a first hybrid generation (F 1) and
offspring were called Filial1 or F1 progeny.
He conducted an experiment with all seven contrasting pairs. He observed that the entire
F1 progeny showed one pattern in their behaviour i.e., they resembled one of the parents.
Another parent character was completely absent.
He continued his experiment with self-pollination of F1 progeny plants. Surprisingly, he
observed that one out of four plants were dwarf while the other three were tall. The tall
and the short plants were in the ratio of 3:1.

He also noted that no progeny was in intermediate height i.e., no blending was observed.
The result was the same for other traits of plants too, and he called them second hybrid
generation and offspring were called Filial2 or F2 progeny.
Mendel observed that traits which were absent in F1 generation had reappeared in the F2 generation. He called such
suppressed traits as recessive traits and expressed traits as dominant traits. He also concluded that some ‘factors’ are
inherited by offspring from their parent over successive generations.

Later, these ‘factors’ were called genes. Genes are responsible for the inheritance of traits from one generation to
another. Genes consist of a pair of alleles which code for different traits. If a pair of alleles is the same i.e., TT or tt,
such alleles are called homozygous pair while those that are different or non-identical (e.g. Tt) are called heterozygous
pair.
Probability and Punnett square
Worked Example and question
Monohybrid cross example
Dihybrid cross
Test cross and Co-dominance