INHERITANCE : TERMS

chromosome : as a thread of DNA, made up

of a string of genes
• gene as a length of DNA that is the unit of
heredity and codes for a specific protein.
A gene may be copied and passed on to

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the next generation
• allele as any of two or more alternative
forms of a gene
• haploid nucleus as a nucleus containing a
single set of unpaired chromosomes (e.g.
sperm and egg)
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• diploid nucleus as a nucleus containing
two sets of chromosomes (e.g. in body
cells)
INHERITANCE : TERMS
 Dominant gene: The gene which is expressed Ex:
TT

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 Recessive gene: The gene whose expression is
suppressed or masked: Ex: tt
 Homozygous: Ex: The gene pair where the allele
are identical : tt ot TT
 Heterozygous: The gene pair where the alleles are
of the not identical: tt ot TT
 Genotype: The internal genetic make up of an
organism
 Phenotype: The externally visible characters
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CLASSICAL GENETICS
 Monohybrid inheritance: Where the inheritance of only
one character is studied- ex Length of a plant or shape of
the seed.

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 The cross between pure tall plant and pure short plant
gives progeny in a ratio of 3:1
 LAW OF DOMINANCE: The dominant gene masks the
effect of the recessive gene and it is expressed.
 Law of INDEPENDENT ASSORTMENT:
 The Law of Independent Assortment, also known as
"Inheritance Law", states that alleles of different genes
assort independently of one another during gamete
formation. While Mendel's experiments with mixing one
trait always resulted in a 3:1 ratio (Fig. 1) between
dominant and recessive phenotypes

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PUNNETT SQUARE
The Law of Independent Assortment,
TT Tt also known as "Inheritance Law",
states that alleles of different genes

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assort independently of one another
during gamete formation.
Mendel's experiments with mixing
tT tt
one trait (mono hybrid inheritance )
always resulted in a 3:1 ratio
between dominant and recessive
phenotypes

Independent assortment occurs during

meiosis I in eukaryotic organisms,
specifically metaphase I of meiosis, to
produce a gamete with a mixture of the4
organism's maternal and paternal
chromosomes. Along with chromosomal
CODOMINANCE
 The IA allele gives blood type A, IB gives type
B, and i gives blood type O.

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 As both IA and IB are dominant over i, only ii
people have type O blood.
 Individuals with IAIA or IAi have type A blood,
and individuals with IBIB or IBi have type B.
 IAIB people have both phenotypes, because A
and B express a special dominance
relationship: codominance,)

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INHERITANCE OF BLOOD GROUPS
Type A and B parents can have an AB child.
Type A and a type B couple can also have a

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type O child if they are both heterozygous
(IBi,IAi)
AB
A Bi
i

Blood type AB Blood type B

B
Ai Ii

Blood type A Blood Type O

i
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 SEX DETERMINATION
 A sex-determination system is a biological
system that determines the development of
sexual characteristics in an organism.

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 Most sexual organisms have two sexes. In
many cases, sex determination is genetic:
males and females have different alleles or
even different genes that specify their sexual
morphology.
 In animals, this is often accompanied by
chromosomal differences

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 In the XY sex-determination system, females
have two of the same kind of sex
chromosome (XX), while males have two
distinct sex chromosomes (XY).
 Some species (including humans) have a

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gene on the Y chromosome that determines
maleness; two X chromosomes to determine
femaleness.
 The XY sex chromosomes are different in
shape and size from each other unlike the
autosomes, (chromosomes that present in
normal cells) and are termed allosomes(the
chromosomes present in sex cells.)
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 SEX LINKED INHERITANCE
 Sex linkage is the phenotypic expression of an
allele related to the chromosomal sex of the
individual. This mode of inheritance is in

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contrast to the inheritance of traits on
autosomal chromosomes, where both sexes
have the same probability of expressing the
trait. Since humans have many more genes on
the X than the Y, there are many more X-linked
traits than Y-linked traits.
 In mammals the female is the homozygous sex,
with two X chromosomes (XX), while the male is
heterozygous, with one X and one Y
chromosome (XY). Genes on the X or Y
chromosome are called sex linked genes 10
 X-linked inherited diseases occur far more
frequently in males because they only have one
X chromosome.

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 Females must receive a copy of the gene from
both parents to have such a recessive disease.
However, they will still be carriers if they
receive one copy of the gene.
 Recessive genes on the X chromosome that
cause serious diseases are usually passed from
female carriers to their ill sons and carrier
daughters
 Ex colour blindness, Haemophilia, cystic fibrosis
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 COLOUR BLINDNESS
 Color blindness may be described as total or
partial. Total color blindness is much less
common than partial color blindness.

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 There are two major types of color blindness:
those who have difficulty distinguishing
between red and green, and those who have
difficulty distinguishing between blue and
yellow

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 About 8 percent of males, but only 0.5 percent of
females, are color blind in some way or another,
whether it is one color,
 The reason males are at a greater risk of inheriting an
X linked mutation is because males only have one X
chromosome, and females have two (XX);

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 if a woman inherits a normal X chromosome in addition
to the one which carries the color blind gene, she will
not display it. Men do not have a second X chromosome
to override the chromosome which carries the mutation.
 Hence, most of the woman are carriers for the color
blindness while the sons are suffrers and such an
inheritance is called criss- cross inheritance ie
passing of characters from mother to son to daughters.

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CELL DIVISION

 Cell division is the process by which a

parent cell divides into two or more
daughter cells.

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 Cell division in eukaryotes is known as
mitosis, and usuall takes place for growth,
maintenance and repair.
 The corresponding sort of cell division in
prokaryotes is known as binary fission
 In another type of cell division present only
in eukaryotes, called meiosis, a cell is
permanently transformed into a gamete 15
and cannot divide again until fertilization
MITOSIS
 The process of mitosis is complex and highly
regulated. The sequence of events is divided
into phases, corresponding to the completion

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of one set of activities and the start of the next.
 These stages are interphase, prophase,

 anaphase and telophase.

 During the process of mitosis the pairs of

chromosomes condense and attach to fibers
that pull the sister chromatids to opposite sides
of the cell.
 The cell then divides in cytokinesis to produce
two identical daughter cells 16
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MITOSIS
MEIOSIS
 In biology, meiosis is a process of reductional
division in which the number of chromosomes
per cell is cut in half.

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 In animals, meiosis always results in the
formation of gametes, while in other organisms
it can give rise to spores.
 As with mitosis, before meiosis begins, the DNA
in the original cell is replicated during
interphase of the cell cycle.
 Two cell divisions separate the replicated
chromosomes into four haploid gametes or
spores
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MEIOSIS
CROSSING OVER AND VARIATION

 During prophase I, DNA is exchanged between homologous

chromosomes in a process called homologous recombination

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This often results in chromosomal crossover
 The new combinations of DNA created during crossover are
a significant source of genetic variation, and may result in
beneficial new combinations of alleles
 The paired and replicated chromosomes are called bivalents
or tetrads, which have two chromosomes and four
chromatids with one chromosome coming from each parent.
 At this stage, non-sister chromatids may cross-over at points
called chiasmata combinations of alleles in the gametes
produced.

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CROSSING OVER
 http://www.execulink.com/~ekimmel/crossing_over.htm

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 http://www.johnkyrk.com/mitosis.html chk
this out for a understanding of the process
though don’t look at details.

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