INTRODUCTION TO

HEREDITY
Mr. Collins-Green
 Inheritance of traits in history
(Selective breeding)
Corn: crossed to improve
size, numbers and tolerance
(hybrid vigor)
Inheritance of traits in history
(Selective breeding)
Horses: Bred for strength, Purebred dogs: bred mostly
racing etc… for show
Inheritance of traits in history

Selective breeding of exotic reptiles such as ball pythons to

breed specific visual traits.
Inheritance of traits in history
(Selective breeding)
Humans?!
Gregor Mendel (1822-1884)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=EvR_Sdm1orU&feature=relat
ed
 Born in Germany
 Joined Augustinian monastery
after high school
 Worked with pea plants in the
garden of the monastery,
exploring the inheritance of
traits from one generation to the
next
Early beliefs about inheritance
 Mendel’s predecessors
hypothesized that the crossing of
different traits would create a
blend
 Offspring would possess
characteristics that were a
combination of the characteristics
of the parents
 Mendel proved that this is not the
case through experimentation
with pea plants
Why use pea plants?
 Pea plants exhibit a number of
traits that can be expressed in
two ways
 Stems:
 Long or short
 Flowers:
 Purple or white
 Seeds:
 Round or wrinkled
 Yellow or green
 Pods:
 Green or yellow
Why use pea plants?
 Pea plants allowed Mendel to
experiment with cross
pollination

 Mendel explored the

inheritance of traits in
successive generations of
28 000 pea plants over 8 years
Mendel’s early results
Mendel’s early results
Mendel’s early results
Mendel’s early results
Mendel’s early results
Mendel’s early results
Mendel’s early results
Dominant traits Recessive traits
Mendel’s early results
Dominant traits Recessive traits
Mendel’s early results
Dominant traits Recessive traits
Mendel’s contributions to genetics
 Certain “factors” (later called genes) control the traits
of a plant
 “Factors” can take alternate forms
 Principle of Dominance
 One form of a factor can mask the effect or expression of
another
 Law of Segregation
 A pair of factors separate or “segregate” during the
formation of sex cells
 Law of Independent Assortment
 If genes are located on different chromosomes, they are
inherited independently of one another
Genetics terminology
 Alleles
 The alternate forms of a gene

 DOMINANT ALLELES
 Those alleles that are most frequently expressed
 recessive alleles
 Those alleles that are less frequently expressed
Genetics terminology
 Hybrid
 Individual carrying multiple
alleles of a gene but only Yy
expressing the dominant one
 Genotype
 The alleles that an individual
organism carries for a particular
trait
YY or Yy
 Phenotype
 The observable traits of an
individual organism
Genetics terminology
 Homozygous
Homozygous
 A term used to describe the dominant
genotype of an individual organism (PP)

which carries two similar alleles

 Heterozygous Homozygous
 A term used to describe the recessive
(pp)
genotype of an individual organism
which carries two different alleles
Heterozygous
(Pp)
Genetics terminology
 Monohybrid cross
Monohybrid cross is when two individuals are crossed in the
interest of examining a single characteristic.
 Dihybrid cross
The genetic material of two individual organisms is crossed
in the interest of examining the inheritance of two
characteristics
 Test cross
A test cross is used to determine the genotype of a dominant
phenotype. The test is performed by crossing an individual of
unknown genotype with a homozygous recessive individual.
Genetics terminology
 Punnett square
 A chart used to organize the results of a cross between
the sex cells of two individuals
Monohybrid cross
 In the following example, the dominant allele is for
tall-stemmed pea plants (T), and the recessive
allele (t) is for short-stemmed pea plants

T t
Monohybrid cross
Monohybrid cross
Monohybrid cross
Monohybrid cross
Monohybrid cross
Monohybrid cross
Monohybrid cross
Monohybrid cross
Monohybrid cross
Monohybrid cross
Monohybrid cross
Sample Problem: Monohybrid
 “Consider a cross between a pea plant that is
heterozygous for round seeds and a pea plant that
has wrinkled seeds. The allele for round seeds is
dominant over that for wrinkled seeds. R can be
used to indicate the round dominant allele and r
can be used to represent the wrinkled recessive
allele. Determine the genotypes of the resulting
offspring.”
Dihybrid cross
 In the following example, the dominant alleles are
for round pea seeds (R) and yellow pea seeds (Y),
and the recessive alleles are for wrinkled pea seeds
(r) and green pea seeds (y)

R r

Y y
Dihybrid cross
Dihybrid cross
Dihybrid cross
Dihybrid cross
Dihybrid cross
Dihybrid cross

RRY
Y
Dihybrid cross
Dihybrid cross

RRY
y
Dihybrid cross

RRY
y
Dihybrid cross

RRY
y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RrYy
y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RrYy
y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY
y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY
y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy
y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy
y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy
y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy
y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy

RrY
Y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy

RrY
Y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy

RrY RrY
Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy

RrY RrY
Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy

RrY RrY rrYy

Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy

RrY RrY rrYy

Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy

RrY RrY rrYy rrYY

Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy

RrY RrY rrYy rrYY

Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY

Y y
RRY RrY
y y
RrYy

RrY RrY
Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY 9/16

Y y
RRY RrY
y y
RrYy

RrY RrY
Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY 9/16

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY
y y y
RrYy Rryy

RrY RrY
Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY 9/16

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY 3/16
y y y
RrYy Rryy

RrY RrY
Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY 9/16

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY 3/16
y y y
RrYy Rryy rrYy

RrY RrY rrYy rrYY

Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY 9/16

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY 3/16
y y y
RrYy Rryy rrYy 3/16

RrY RrY rrYy rrYY

Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY 9/16

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY 3/16
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy 3/16

RrY RrY rrYy rrYY

Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY 9/16

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY 3/16
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy 3/16

RrY RrY rrYy rrYY 1/16

Y y
Dihybrid cross

RRY RRY RrYy RrYY 9/16

Y y
RRY RRy Rryy RrY 3/16
y y y
RrYy Rryy rryy rrYy 3/16

RrY RrY rrYy rrYY 1/16

Y y

Ratio of 9:3:3:1
Sample Problem: Dihybrid
 “In the domestic house cat, black fur is dominant over
white fur. Short fur is dominant over long fur. A cat
that is homozygous for white, short fur is mated with a
cat that is heterozygous for black and short fur.”
a) What are the genotypes and phenotypes of the F1
generation?
b) Of the genotypes listed in your answer for a), which
two would give you long-haired offspring when
crossed together?
Test cross
 In the following example, the genotype of an
individual exhibiting a dominant trait is determined
by crossing it with an individual that has a
recessive genotype
Test cross P? x pp
Test cross P? x pp
Test cross P? x pp
Test cross
 If any of the offspring show the recessive trait, then
the individual must be
Test cross
 If any of the offspring show the recessive trait, then
the individual must be heterozygous
Test cross P? x pp
Test cross P? x pp
Test cross P? x pp
Test cross
 If all offspring show the dominant trait, then the
individual must be
Test cross
 If all offspring show the dominant trait, then the
individual must be homozygous