1. Introduction to Genetics
Diaz 374

2. What is genetics?
The scientific study of heredity

3. Gregor Mendel Born in 1822 in Czechoslovakia.
Became a monk at a monastery in 1843.
Taught biology and had interests in statistics.
Also studied at the University of Vienna

4. Mendel continued
After returning to the monastery he continued to teach and worked in the garden.
Between 1856 and 1863 he grew and tested over 28,000 pea plants

5. Mendel’s Peas Easy to grow. Easily identifiable traits
Can work with large numbers of samples

6. Mendel’s experiments
The first thing Mendel did was create a “pure” generation or true-breeding generation.
He made sure that certain pea plants were only able to self pollinate, eliminating unwanted traits.
He did this by cutting away the stamen, or male part of each flower

7. Genes and dominance Trait : a characteristic
Mendel studied seven of these traits
After Mendel ensured that his true-breeding generation was pure, he then crossed plants showing contrasting traits.
He called the offspring the F1 generation or first filial.

8. What will happen when pure yellow peas are crossed with pure green peas?
All of the offspring were yellow.
Hybrids = the offspring of crosses between parents with contrasting traits

9. What did Mendel conclude?
Inheritance is determined by factors passed on from one generation to another.
Mendel knew nothing about chromosomes, genes, or DNA. Why?
These terms hadn’t yet been defined.

10. What were Mendel’s “factors”
The ‘factors” that Mendel mentioned were the genes.
Each gene has different forms called alleles
Mendel’s second principle stated that some alleles are dominant and some are recessive.

11. Mendel’s second cross
He allowed the F1 generation to self-pollinate thus producing the F2 generation.
Did the recessive allele completely disappear?
What happened when he crossed two yellow pea hybrid (F1) plants?

12. Results: ¾ of the peas were yellow, ¼ of the peas were green.
During the formation of the sex cells or gametes, the alleles separated or segregated to different gametes. (pollen and egg)

13. Probability The likelihood of a particular event occurring. Chance
Can be expressed as a fraction or a percent.
Example: coin flip.

14. Punnett Square Developed by Reginald Punnett.
A diagram used to show the probability or chances of a certain trait being passed from one generation to another.

15. Reading Punnett squares
Gametes are placed above and to the left of the square
Offspring are placed in the square.
Capital letters (Y) represent dominant alleles.
Lower case letters (y) represent recessive alleles.

16. Punnett square example

17. genotypes
Homozygous = when an organism possesses two identical alleles. ex.
YY or yy
Heterozygous = when an organism possesses different alleles. ex. Yy

18. Phenotype vs genotype Genotype The genetic makeup
Symbolized with letters
Tt or TT
Phenotype
Physical appearance of the organism
Expression of the trait
Short, tall, yellow, smooth, etc.

19. Probability and statistics
No one event has a greater chance of occurring than another.
You cannot predict the precise outcome of an individual event.
The more trials performed, the closer the actual results to the expected outcomes.

20. Punnett square review:

22. Independent Assortment
The two factor cross. Example: color and shape of peas.
F1 cross to produce the F2 generation
Ex RRYY x rryy
Round yellow mated with wrinkled green
Offspring would all be hybrid for both traits (RrYy)

23. What is independent assortment?
Alleles separate independently during the formation of gametes.

24. The dihybrid cross
Punnett square on board:

25. Some exceptions to Mendel’s principles:
Some alleles are neither dominant nor recessive.
Many traits are controlled by more than one gene (polygenic traits)

26. Incomplete dominance A situation in which neither allele is dominant.
When both alleles are present a “new” phenotype appears that is a blend of each allele.
Alleles will be represented by capital letters only.

27. Japanese four-o-clock flowers
Red flower plant genotype = RR
White flower plant genotype = WW
Pink flower plant genotype = RW

28. What happens when a red flower is crossed with a white flower?
According to Mendel either some white and some red or all offspring either red or white.
All are pink

29. Codominance When two alleles both appear in the phenotype.
Usually signified using superscripts.
example: color of hair coat in cattle.
crcr = red hairs
cwcw = white hairs
crcw = roan coat (mixture of both colors)

30. Roan cattle inheritance

31. Multiple allele inheritance
When two or more alleles contribute to the phenotype.
Human blood types: A,B,O and AB
A and B are codominant to each other.
Both A and B are dominant over O.

32. Human Blood types: TYPE A Allele = IA
Blood cells have small antigens on the surface.

33. TYPE B
Allele = IB
Cells coated with type B antigens

34. TYPE AB
genotype = IAIB
Blood cells contain both types of antigens
Known as universal recipient

35. TYPE O
Allele = i
No antigens on the surface of the blood cells
Known as universal donor

36. 6 different genotypes IAIA IAIB IBIB IBi IAi i i Type A Type AB Type B
Type O

37. How common are the different blood types?
45 %
40 %
4 %
11 %

38. Sample Problem:
A man with type AB blood marries a woman with type B blood whose father has type O blood. What are the chances that they have a child with type A blood? Type AB?

39. Polygenic traits Traits controlled by two or more genes. Examples:
Human height,
eye and skin
color

40. Assignment / HW
Spongebob genetics worksheet 1