Grant Howell Blaine G.

Mamaoag

BS-Psychology 2-2

Activity 3

Basic Principles of Heredity

1. Define the following terms.

a. Gene - a unit of heredity which is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to
determine some characteristic of the offspring.

b. Allele - one of two or more alternative forms of a gene that arise by mutation and are found
at the same place on a chromosome.

c. Locus - the position of a gene or mutation on a chromosome.

d. Genotype - the genetic constitution of an individual organism.

e. Heterozygote - an individual having two different alleles of a particular gene or genes, and so
giving rise to varying offspring.

f. Homozygote - an individual having two identical alleles of a particular gene or genes and so
breeding true for the corresponding characteristic.

g. Phenotype - the set of observable characteristics of an individual resulting from the

interaction of its genotype with the environment.

2. In his studies of heredity, Gregor Mendel used pea plant (Pisum sativum).

a. How do you think this plant organism had helped him become successful in his study of
heredity? Provide the characteristics of the plant that qualified it as test organism in such study.

-Mendel chose to work with pea plants because they have easily identifiable traits. For example, pea
plants are either tall or short, which is an easy trait to observe. Furthermore, pea plants grow quickly, so
he could complete many experiments in a short period of time.

b. What are the seven characteristics of pea plants that Gregor Mendel examined? Enumerate.

 Pea shape (round or wrinkled)

 Pea color (green or yellow)
 Pod shape (constricted or inflated)
  Pod color (green or yellow)
 Flower color (purple or white)
 Plant size (tall or dwarf)
 Position of flowers (axial or terminal)

c. What are the two Mendel’s Laws of Heredity? State the concept of each law.

-Mendel's Law of Segregation states individuals possess two alleles and a parent passes only one allele
to his/her offspring.

-Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment states the inheritance of one pair of factors ( genes ) is
independent of the inheritance of the other pair.