MENDEL AND THE GENE IDEA
Overview: Drawing from the Deck of Genes
What genetic principles account for the
transmission of traits from parents to offspring?
 One possible explanation of heredity is
a “blending” hypothesis
The idea that genetic material
contributed by two parents mixes in
a manner analogous to the way
blue and yellow plants blend to
make green
 An alternative to the blending model is
the “particulate” hypothesis of
inheritance: the gene idea
- Parents pass discrete heritable
units, genes
GREGOR MENDEL
- Documented a particulate
mechanism of inheritance through
his experiments with garden peas
- same position on homologous
 Mendel used the scientific approach to
identify two laws of inheritance.
 Mendel discovered the basic principles
of heredity by breeding garden peas in
carefully planned experiments
MENDEL’S EXPERIMENTAL, QUANTITATIVE
APPROACH
 Mendel chose to work with peas
- Because they are available in many
variables
- Because he could strictly control
which plants mated in which:
o Easy to grow
o Identifiable traits
o Can work with large
numbers of samples
o Can be artificially cross-
pollinated
HOW MENDEL BEGAN
 Mendel produced pure strains by
allowing the plants to self-pollinate for
several generations
1. Self-pollination
2. Fertilization
3. Germination
EIGHT PEA PLANTS
Seed shape --- Round (R) or Wrinkled (r)
Seed color --- Yellow (Y) or Green (y)
Pod shape --- Smooth (S) or wrinkled (s)
Pod color --- Green (G) or Yellow (g)
Seed coat color --- Gray (G) or White (g)
Flower position --- Axial (A) or Terminal (a)
Plant Height --- Tall (T) or short (t)
Flower color --- Purple (P) or white (p)
GENETIC VOCABULARY
 Gene --- a unit of heredity; a section of
DNA sequence encoding a single protein
 Genome --- the entire set of genes in an
organism
 Alleles --- two genes that occupy the
chromosomes and that cover the same
trait (like “flavors” of a trait).
 Locus --- a fixed location on a strand of
DNA where a gene or one of its alleles is
located
 Character --- a heritable feature, such
as flower color
 Trait --- a variant of a character, such as
purple or white flowers
 Dominant --- the allele of a gene that
masks or suppresses the expression of
an alternate allele
--- the trait that appears in the
heterozygous condition
--- represented by capital letter
(R)
 Captalized traits = dominant
phenotypes
 Recessive --- an allele that is masked by
a dominant allele
--- does not appear in the
heterozygous condition, only in
homozygous
--- represented by lowercase
letter (r)

 Lowercase traits = recessive phenotypes

 Phenotypes --- observable

characteristic of an organism
--- the physical appearance of
an organism (Genotype +
environment)
 Genotype --- the genetic makeup of an
organism