Genetics

GENETICS
Genetics is the scientific study of

heredity and variation.
BLENDING HYPOTHESIS
GREGOR JOHANN MENDEL
(1822 – 1884)
- An Austrian Monk
- The Father of Genetics
- Discovered the basic
principles of inheritance
through his experiment in
garden peas
Garden Peas
(Pisum sativum L.)
• Character – a heritable feature that varies
among individuals, such as flower color
• Trait – each variant for a character, such as

purple or white color for flowers
Seven Characters in Pea Plants
Mendel’s Model
1. Alternative versions of genes account for variation in
inherited characters.
2. For each character, an organism inherits two copies of a
gene, one from each parent
3. If two alleles at a locus differ, then one, the dominant
allele, determines the organism’s appearance; the other,
the recessive allele, has no noticeable effect on the
organism’s appearance.
LAW OF SEGREGATION
- states that the two alleles for a heritable character

segregate (separate from each other) during gamete
formation and end up in different gametes
Useful Genetic Vocabulary
HOMOZYGOUS
HETEROZYGOUS
PHENOTYPE
GENOTYPE
The Testcross
Breeding an organism of
unknown genotype with a
recessive homozygote is called a
testcross because it can reveal the
genotype of that organism. The
testcross was devised by Mendel
and continues to be an important
tool of geneticists.
Sample Problem:
1. A Tall plant (T) is dominant to short plant (t). If all offspring of
a cross are heterozygous, what were the genotypes of the
parents?
2. A homozygous round seeded plant is crossed with a
homozygous wrinkled seeded plant. What percentage of the
offspring will also be homozygous?
3. Two short haired guinea pigs are mated several times. Out of
100 offspring, 50 of them have long hair. What are the
probable genotypes of the parents?
4. If out of 100 offspring 74 are purple flowered and 26 are
white, what were the probable genotypes and phenotypes of
the parents?
In rabbits, black fur is dominant to white fur.
Perform the following crosses. For each cross,
give the phenotype and genotype of all
offspring.
A. BB x bb
B. Bb x Bb
C. BB x Bb
In pea plants, yellow seed color is dominant
to green seed color. If a heterozygous pea
plant is crossed with a plant that is
homozygous recessive for seed color, what
is the probability that the offspring will have
green seeds? ______
1. Hornless (H) in cattle is dominant over horned (h). A homozygous hornless
bull is mated with a homozygous horned cow. What will be the genotype
and phenotype of the first generation?
2. In tomatoes, red fruit (R) is dominant over yellow fruit (r). A plant that is
homozygous for red fruit is crossed with a plant that has yellow fruit. What
would be the genotypes and phenotypes of the P1 and F1 generations?
3. In humans, being a tongue roller (R) is dominant over non-roller (r). A man
who is a non-roller marries a woman who is heterozygous for tongue rolling.
What is the probability of this couple having a child who is a tongue roller?
4. Brown eyes in humans are dominant to blue eyes. A brown-eyed man,

whose mother was blue-eyed, marries a brown-eyed woman whose father
had blue eyes. What is the probability that this couple will have a blue-eyed
child?
NONMENDELIAN INHERITANCE
Genetic interactions that do not follow
complete dominance, are expressed
together, or influence each other’s
expression.
INCOMPLETE DOMINANCE
- heterozygous phenotype
intermediate between
two homozygous
phenotypes
Experimental
Parental Monohybrid Cross Design
True-breeding red (R) flowered snapdragons were crossed with true-

breeding white (W) flowered.

Incomplete Dominance
F1 Generation
Genotype: RW Phenotype: Pink

F2 Generation
Genotypes: RR, RW, WW Phenotypes: 1 Red, 2 Pink, 1
White

Interpretation
1) Red snapdragons have two alleles of a gene for red pigment.
Expression of both alleles gives the deep red color
2) White snapdragons have two alleles that specify "no pigment".

Expression of both alleles gives no color
3) Pink snapdragons are heterozygous with one red allele; its

expression results in only enough pigment molecules to make
flowers pink.
Sample Problem:
In some cats the gene for tail length shows incomplete

dominance. Cats with long tails and cats with no tails are
homozygous for their respective alleles. Cats with one long tail
allele and one no tail allele have short tails. For each of the
following construct a punnett square and give phenotypic and
genotype ratios of the offspring.
a. a long tail cat and a cat with no tail

b. a long tail cat and a short tail cat
c. a short tail cat and a cat with no tail
d. two short tail cats.
The color of fruit for plant "X" is determined by
two alleles. When two plants with orange fruits
are crossed the following phenotypic ratios are
present in the offspring: 25% red fruit, 50%
orange fruit, 25% yellow fruit. What are the
genotypes of the parent orange-fruited plants?
In Andalusian fowls, black individuals and white
individuals are homozygous. A homozygous black bird
is crossed with a homozygous white bird. The offspring
are all bluish-gray.
• What results if a black individual is crossed with a
bluish-gray individual?
• If two bluish-gray individuals were crossed, what
would be the ratios for both phenotype and genotype
of the offspring?
CoDominance
Both traits are dominant, and show up in
the phenotype together. Co means
“together”
Black Cow X White Cow = Spotted Cow

(BB) (WW) (BW)
CoDominance Problem
What are all the possible phenotypes when two
spotted cows are bred?
B W Possible
phenotypes
are a black
B BB BW cow, 2
spotted
W BW WW cows, and a
white cow
In some chickens, the gene for feather color is controlled by
codominance. The allele for black is B and the allele for white is W.
The heterozygous phenotype is known as erminette.
a. What is the genotype for black chickens?
b. What is the genotype for white chickens?
c. What is the genotype for erminette chickens?
Determine the possible genotype and
phenotype of the following cross:
 Erminette x Erminette
 Black x Erminette
 White x Erminette
A cross between a black cat & a tan cat produces
a tabby pattern (black & tan fur together).
a. What pattern of inheritence does this illustrate?

b. What percent of kittens would have tan fur if a
tabby cat is crossed with a black cat?
Two short-tailed (Manx) cats are bred
together. They produce three kittens with long
tails, five short tails, and two without any tails.
From these results, how do you think tail
length in these cats are inherited? Show the
genotypes for both the parents and the
offspring to support your answer.
MULTIPLE ALLELES
Multiple allele traits: controlled by

three or more alleles of the same gene
that code for a specific trait.
ex. Human Blood Types: ABO
Below are imaginary organisms. Note horn shape,
leg length, fur color and tail shape. Now determine
the type of inheritance of the four traits by
examining the genotypes of the parents and
offspring.
Blood type displays both co-dominance
and complete dominance
Red Blood cells can either have a
carbohydrate on their surface or not.
The presence of a carbohydrate (I) is dominant
to the absence of a carb (i).
Additionally, there are two types of carbs
that may exist on the surface of RBCs called
A (IA) and B (IB).
Cell surface carbs A and B are codominant,
which means they could also show up at the
same time on an RBC.
Blood Type Inheritance Rules:
Cells Genotypes Blood types
1. A person with the IA allele will have A
carbohydrates. I i, I I
A A A Type A
blood
2. A person with the IB allele will have B
carbohydrates. I i, I I
B B B Type B
blood
3. A person with the recessive i allele
will have no carbohydrates. IAIB Type AB
blood
4. Or a person with both IA and IB alleles
will have both A and B carbohydrates
on their cells. ii Type O
blood
Donor-recipient
compatibility
Recipient
Type A B AB O
A
Donor B
AB
O
Note:
= Agglutination  Type O blood may be transfused into all the
other types = the universal donor
= Safe transfusion  Type AB blood can receive blood from all the
other blood types = the universal recipient.
Blood Type Problems
If a woman with AB blood
has children with a man
who has type O, what will
be the possible genotypes
of their children? What will
be their blood types?
IA IB
i IA i IB i
i IA i IB i
Blood Type Problems
Blood Type Problem 2: A
woman with type B blood
has a child with type O
blood. How is this possible
if her husband has type A
blood?
1. A woman homozygous for blood type B marries a
man that is heterozygous for blood type A. State the
possible phenotypic ratios of the offspring.
2. A man with blood type O marries a woman with
blood type AB. State the possible phenotypic ratios
of the offspring.
3. A type B woman whose mother was type O marries
a type O man. What are the possible phenotypic
ratios of their offspring?
4. A type A woman whose father was type B marries a
type B man whose mother was type A. What are the
possible phenotypes of their offspring?
5. What is the probability that a couple whose blood
types are AB and O will have a type A child?

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GENETICS

Genetics is the scientific study of

• Trait – each variant for a character, such as

- states that the two alleles for a heritable character

4. Brown eyes in humans are dominant to blue eyes. A brown-eyed man,

Parental Monohybrid Cross Design

True-breeding red (R) flowered snapdragons were crossed with true-

2) White snapdragons have two alleles that specify "no pigment".

3) Pink snapdragons are heterozygous with one red allele; its

In some cats the gene for tail length shows incomplete

a. a long tail cat and a cat with no tail

Black Cow X White Cow = Spotted Cow

a. What pattern of inheritence does this illustrate?

Multiple allele traits: controlled by

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