Basic Principles of Genetics
Chapter
1
Introduction
• Genetics is the study of inheritance.
• Inheritance is the physical features that you get from
parents.
• All physical characteristics are inherited
E.g Brown eyes, blue eyes
• This includes farm animals.
2
• An understanding of genetics is important in
breeding any animal or plant and in
producing new strains of barley, wheat,
potatoes etc.
• Inheritance is controlled by genes (alleles).
3
• A lot of the early work on genetics was carried
out by an Austrian monk called Gregor Mendel.
• He used pea plants to study how characteristics
were passed from one generation to the next.
• Pea plants grow quickly and are self pollinating
and produce large numbers of seeds.
4
Gregor Mendel
• He studied 7 different features of peas that existed in
two different forms.
• Some of the characteristics he looked at were:
– Shape of seed
• Round, wrinkled.
– Colour of seed.
• Green, yellow
– Length of stem
• Tall, short
– Colour of flower.
– Colour of pod.
5
Mendel’s First law
• He came up with two laws:
• Mendel’s first law says that alleles occur in
pairs and during gamete formation each pair
separate (segregate), one going to each
gamete.
• Also called “The Law of Segregation”
6
Mendel’s Second Law
• When the alleles of two different genes
separate during gamete formation the
distribution of one pair of alleles is
independent of the distribution of any other
pair.
• Also called the “The Law of Independent
Assortment”
7
• Genes of parent AaBb
After meiosis gives:
• Gametes AB Ab aB ab
A A
a
b
b B
B
a
All 4 combinations are equally likely
8
A reminder of genes and chromosomes!
9
Inheriting Length of the stem
• Since chromosomes are in matching pairs each
chromosome carries a gene for the length of the
stem, so it is controlled by two genes.
• There are different forms of length of the stem.
• One is tall, one for short, etc
• These different forms of the same gene are called
alleles.
10
Alleles
• Alleles are different forms of the same gene.
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Inheriting length of the stem
• We use the symbol T for the allele that gives Tall stem
• We use the symbol t for the allele that gives short
stem.
• If you have two T alleles then you will have Tall stem.
• If both alleles are the same then they will be
homozygous. (‘Homo’ = same)
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Terms
• Homozygous is where a pair of alleles
controlling a particular characteristic are the
same e.g. TT, tt
• Heterozygous is where a pair of alleles
controlling a particular characteristic are
different e.g. Tt.
13
Terms
• Genotype is the type of alleles you have
– E.g. TT, Tt
• Genotype is the genetic make up of an organism
• Phenotype is your appearance as a result of the
alleles
– E.g. Brown, Blue
• Phenotype is the outward expression of a pair of
genes.
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Explanation of terms 1
• Genes are represented by letters
• The letter is usually the letter of the dominant
gene i.e. Brown Eye B.
• Sometimes two different types of genes exist
i.e. Dominant and recessive.
• The dominant gene is represented by a capital
letter i.e. B.
• The recessive gene is represented by a small
letter i.e. b.
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• If you have a dominant and a recessive gene
i.e Tt
– The dominant allele hides the effect of the other
recessive allele.
– So Tt will have a phenotype of Tall stem.
• The first generation is called the F1
generation.
16
A simple genetic cross
• Mendel produced pure breeding plants
(homozygous)
• What happens if two pure breeding plants are
crossed, one tall and one small?
• What type of plants would they produce?
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• Tall Short
• TT tt
• T t
• Tt
• Tall
• This is called a monohybrid cross because it looks at
one characteristic only
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How to lay out genetic crosses
• In cattle black coat (B) is dominant to white
(b). Give the genotypes and phenotypes for
the offspring of a cross involving two animals
whose genotypes are BB and bb
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For your Answer
• To answer any genetic cross, you must write
down:
1. Phenotype of parents
2. Genotype of parents
3. Genotype of gametes
4. Genotype of the offspring
5. Phenotype of the offspring
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Answer
• Phenotype of parents • Black White
• Genotype of parents BB bb
• Genotype of gametes
• Genotype of the
B b
offspring Bb
• Phenotype of the Black
offspring
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Simple genetic cross 2
• What would you get if you crossed two
heterozygous tall plants?
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Answer
• Tall Tall
• Tt Tt
• T or t T or t •This is the F2
Gametes
generation
T t
because two
T TT Tt members of the
F1 generation
t Tt tt are crossed.
• 3 Tall
• 1 Short
23
Exercise
• In peas, Round (R) seed is dominant to
wrinkled seed (r). Show the genotype and
phenotype of the offspring that would be
produced from crossing two heterozygous
round seed plants.
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Answer
25
Question 1
• In pea plants purple flower is dominant to
white. When a homozygous purple flowered
plant is crossed with a white flowered plant
• Show the (i) F1 generation (ii) F2 generation.
• Note The F2 generation is got when two
members of the F1 generation are crossed
together
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How to lay out genetics crosses 1
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How to lay out genetics crosses 2
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Record
Study of Genetics
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Applications
Aberdeen Angus Hereford
Black Coat Red Coat
BB bb
B b
Bb
All Black
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Applications
Aberdeen Angus Hereford
Black Coat Red Coat
Bb bb
B b b
Bb bb
Black Red
50% Black
50% Red
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Herefords 2
Polled Hereford Horned Hereford
PP pp
P p
Pp
Polled
32
Sheep
White Coat Black
WW ww
W w
Ww
White
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Sheep
White Coat Black Coat
Ww ww
W w w
Ww ww
White Black
34
Backcross
• A tall plant can be TT or Tt.
• To find out which it is you must do a back
cross.
• A back cross is where you test a plant by
crossing it with a homozygous recessive plant.
• If all the offspring are Tall then the plant under
test must be TT.
• If half are tall and half are short, then it is Tt.
35
Backcross
If it is TT If it is Tt
• Tall Short • Tall Short
• TT tt • Tt tt
• T t • T or t t
– Tt – Tt or tt
– All tall
– 50% tall
– 50% short
36
Incomplete Dominance (1/2)
• Incomplete dominance happens when each
allele is expressed in the heterozygous
condition.
• So the heterozygous phenotype will be in
between the dominant and recessive
characteristics
• E.g. Snapdragon
– Red, White or Pink.
RR rr Rr
37
Incomplete Dominance
• A true breeding red snapdragon is crossed
with a true breeding white snapdragon.
• All F1 offspring have pink flowers.
38
39
40
Incomplete dominance in cattle.
• Shorthorn cattle also show
incomplete dominance.
• Cattle may be red or
white.
• The heterozygous
condition is red with
patches of white. (roan)
41
Question
• 7. (a) Red flower colour in sweet pea plants is a homozygous dominant condition (RR).
• Pink flowering sweet pea plants were crossed with pink flowering sweet pea plants.
• The seeds from these plants were collected and sown, and the new plants produced flowers as
• shown:
• Number of plants with red flowers 27
• Number of plants with pink flowers 56
• Number of plants with white flowers 29
• (i) State the genotype of the original pink flowering parents.
• (ii) Explain how the three flower types shown above resulted from a cross between two
• pink flowered plants.
• (iii) What offspring would result if a pink flowering sweet pea plant were crossed with a
• red flowering sweet pea plant? Describe this cross and state the genotype and
• phenotype of the offspring produced.
• (iv) State one advantage for using plants in studies of genetics.
42
Multiple Alleles
• A characteristic is not always controlled by just
a pair of genes.
• Multiple Alleles are where a characteristic is
controlled by 2 or more alleles.
• Human blood groups are controlled by 3
genes.
• Humans can be blood group A, B, AB or O
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• The genes that control blood groups are A, B
and O.
• Genes A and B are dominant.
• O is recessive.
• Group A has a genotype of AA, AO.
• Group B has genotype of BB, BO
• Group AB has a genotype of AB.
• Group O has a genotype of OO.
44
Continuous Variation
• Most characteristics are controlled by the
interaction of a number of genes.
• This gives a range of phenotypes.
– Example Height, Growth rate, Milk yield, Carcass
quality.
• Environment also has an effect.
– Example Feeding of cattle.
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Exercise
46
Q12. 2015 Ordinary Genetics
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Q12. 2015 Ordinary Genetics
48
Q.12 2014 Ordinary Genetics
49
Q12. 2014 Ordinary Genetics
50
Q12. Ordinary 2014 Genetics
51
Q12. 2014 Ordinary Genetics
52
Q12. 2013 Ordinary Genetics
53
Q12. 2013 Ordinary Genetics
54
Q7. 2012 Higher Genetics
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