The Work of Gregor Mendel

Genetics Genetics – study of heredity

Gregor Mendel’s Peas Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel in 1800s worked with peas to demonstrate the basic genetic principles we know today Mendel’s garden peas were true-breeding, meaning that if they were allowed to self-pollinate, they would produce offspring identical to themselves Mendel selected the pea plants that he would breed with each other. Why pea plants? Easy to care for, grow quickly, take up little space, etc

Genes and Dominance Mendel studied seven different pea plant traits Trait – specific characteristic, such as seed color or plant height, that varies from one individual to another Each trait Mendel studied had two contrasting characters – Ex. Green or yellow seed color Seed Shape Seed Color Seed Coat Color Pod Shape Pod Color Flower Position Plant Height Round Yellow Gray Smooth Green Axial Tall Wrinkled Green White Constricted Yellow Terminal Short Round Yellow Gray Smooth Green Axial Tall

Genes and Dominance (continued) Mendel crossed plants with each of the seven contrasting characters and studied their offspring Each original pair of plants were the P (parental) generation. The offspring from the cross were called the F1 generation Offspring of crosses between parents with different traits are called hybrids F1 generation of pea plants had the character of only ONE of the parents. The other character seemed to have disappeared…

Genes and Dominance (continued) Mendel then came to two conclusions: Biological inheritance is determined by “factors” that are passed from one generation to the next (genes; different forms of a gene = alleles) Principle of Dominance – some alleles are dominant and others are recessive

Principle of Dominance Dominant allele – an organism with a dominant allele for a particular form of a trait will always have that form (Ex. Aa, AA = dominance) Recessive allele – an organism with a recessive allele for a particular trait will only have that form when the dominant allele isn’t present (Ex. aa = recessive)

Segregation Mendel wanted to know what happened to the recessive traits that seemed to have disappeared Crossed F1 plants with themselves to produce F2 (second generation) plants – this caused the recessive traits to reappear Roughly 1/4th of the F2 plants showed the recessive trait

Segregation (continued) Reappearance indicated that at some point, the recessive allele separated from the dominant allele = Segregation Two alleles are segregated from each other so that each gamete (sex cell – sperm or egg) carries only a single copy of each gene

Example: Tallness vs. Shortness in Pea Plants P generation cross (true breeding) TT x tt (tall) x (short) F1 generation Tt (all tall plants produced) F1 generation cross (self-pollinated) Tt x Tt (tall) x (tall) F2 generation TT, Tt, Tt, tt (3 tall, 1 short plant produced)

Principle of Dominance P Generation F1 Generation F2 Generation Tall Short Tall Tall Tall Tall Tall Short Go to Section:

Principle of Dominance P Generation F1 Generation F2 Generation Tall Short Tall Tall Tall Tall Tall Short Go to Section:

Principle of Dominance P Generation F1 Generation F2 Generation Tall Short Tall Tall Tall Tall Tall Short Go to Section:

Gregor Mendel’s Work Gregor Mendel Pea plants “Factors” determine experimented with concluded that Pea plants “Factors” determine traits Some alleles are dominant, and some alleles are recessive Alleles are separated during gamete formation which is called the which is called the Law of Dominance Segregation