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CHAPTER - 9
HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION
• “The transmission of character from parents to offsprings, i.e., from one generation to the
next is called heredity.”
• The heredity information is present in the sex cells (gametes) of the parents. Thus, gametes
constitute the link between one generation and the next and pass on the paternal (father’s) and
the maternal (mother’s) characteristics to the offspring.

• Transmission of characters from parents to offspring:

Chromosome is a thread like structure in the nucleus of a cell which stretches to form DNA
and carries the genes. A gene governs the synthesis of one protein that controls a specific
characteristic of an organism. So, genes are units of heredity which transfer characteristics
from parents to their offspring during reproduction.

VARIATION DURING REPRODUCTION

“The occurrence of differences among the individuals of a species is called variation or diversity”

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• Asexual reproduction leads to very small variations as it involves a single parent. When a
single individual reproduces asexually, the resultant two individuals again after some time
reproduce to form four individuals. All these individuals would be similar. However, there
would be only very minor differences between them. These very minor differences arise due
to small inaccuracies in DNA copying.
• But variations produced during sexual reproduction is however very large. It is because sexual
reproduction involves two parents, they show distinct variations among themselves as well as
from their parents. The variations accumulate and pass on to more and more individuals with
each generation.
• For example, if we observe sugarcane, we find very little variations among the individual
plants but in a number of animals including human beings, which reproduce sexually, quite
distinct variations are visible among different individuals.

The great advantage of variation is that it increases the chances of survival of a species in a
changing environment.
For example, There may be some drastic changes like excessive heat or cold or shortage of water,
etc. in the habitat of a species of organisms. Now, if all the organisms are identical then there is danger
that all of them may die but if some variation are present then there is some chance for them to survive.
So, changes of survival increases because of variations.

TYPES OF GENES
Genes for controlling the same characteristics of an organism can be of two types:

(I) Dominant gene: The gene which decides the appearance of an organism even in the presence of
an alternative gene is called as dominant gene. It is represented by capital letter.

(II) Recessive gene: The gene which can decide the appearance of an organism only in the
presence of another identical gene is called a recessive gene. It is represented by small letter.

RULES FOR INHERITANCE OF TRAITS : MENDEL CONTRIBUTION

Inheritance is the transmission of genetically controlled characteristics (traits) from one generation to
the next.

Some terminologies:

• Alleles: An allele is a variant form of a gene. Offspring inherit one allele for each trait from
each parent.
• Homozygous: If both the alleles inherited from parents are same for a trait then the individual
is called homozygous.
• Heterozygous: If both the alleles inherited from the parents are different for a trait then the
organism (individual) for the trait is called heterozygous.
• Genotypes: It is the description of genes present in on organism.

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• Phenotype: The characteristics (or trait) which is visible in an organism is called its
Phenotype.

Mendel’s crossing:

Mendel used a number of contrasting visible characteristics of garden peas (Pisum Sativum) for series
of hybridization experiments.
He noted seven contrasting characters in garden pea plant. These were as follows:
S. Character Contrasting traits
No.
Dominant Recessive
1. Plant size or height Tall Dwarf
2. Colour of the seed Yellow Green
3. Shape of the seed Round (Smooth) Wrinkled
4. Colour of unripe pod Green Yellow
5. Shape of pod Inflated Constricted
6. Colour of flower Violet White
7. Position of flower on the stem Axial Terminal

NOTE: Mendel took pea plant for his crossing experiment because of the following reasons:
i. Pea plant had a no. of contracting visible characters.
ii. They were self-pollinating.
iii. Many generations of pea plants can be produced in a comparatively short time span.

1. Mendel’s Monohybrid Cross

“A breeding experiment dealing with a single character is called monohybrid cross.”

Mendel selected pure line plants, one tall and other short. In F1 generation, all tall plants were
produced and in F2 generation 3 tall and 1 dwarf plant was produced as shown in the image below.

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Let us now understand the above observation:
Tall is represented as ‘T’ and dwarf is represented as ‘t’.

Parental generation 1: Tall pea plant (Pure) × Short pea plant (Pure)
(TT) (t t)

(T) × (t)

𝐅𝟏 Generation: (Tt) (Heterozygous)

T is dominant so all the offspring will be tall.

Cross Between two 𝐅𝟏 offspring:

F1 : Tall pea plant Tall pea plant

(Parental generation 2) (Tt) (Tt)

T t T t

𝐅𝟐 Generation: TT Tt Tt tt

(Tall) (Tall) (Tall) (short)

Phenotypic ratio (in F2 generation) = 3 : 1 (Because three tall plants are there and 1 dwarf
plant)

Genotypic ratio (in F2 generation) = 1 : 2 : 1 (Three different types of genes arrangement)

2. Mendel’s Dihybrid Cross

“A breeding experiment dealing with two characters at the same time is called as dihybrid cross.”

In these experiments, Mendel considered shape as well as colour of the seeds simultaneously. He
selected pure line plants and then cross-pollinated flowers raised from seeds of round shape and
yellow colour with those from wrinkled seeds and green colour.
Yellow colour is dominant represented as ‘Y’ whereas green is recessive represented as ‘y’.
Round shape is dominant represented as ‘R’ whereas wrinkled shape is recessive represented as ‘r’.

The dihybrid cross is shown below:

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Parental generation 1: Round, green Wrinkled yellow

RRyy rrYY

Ry rY

𝐅𝟏 Generation: RrYy
(Round Yellow)

Cross between two 𝐅𝟏 offsprings:

𝐅𝟏 : Round Yellow Round Yellow

(Parental generation 2)
RrYy RrYy

RY Ry rY ry RY Ry rY ry

CROSS RY Ry rY ry
RY RRYY RRYy RrYY RrYy
Ry RRYy RRyy RrYy Rryy
rY RrYY RrYy rrYY rrYy
ry RrYy Rryy rrYy rryy

Phenotypic Ratio: 9 : 3 : 3 : 1
Genotypic Ratio: 1 : 2 : 2 : 4 : 1 : 2 : 1 : 2 : 1

On the basis of this experiment, Mendel gave 3 laws:

(MENDEL’S LAWS OF INHERITANCE)

1. Law of dominance: In heterozygous condition, the dominant gene decides the trait of an organism.

2. Law of segregation: It states that whenever a pair of genes (called factors by Mendel) for a
character is brought into hybrid, the genes don’t fuse or blend with each other but they segregate
(separate).

3. Law of independent assortment: genes for different traits can segregate independently for gamete
formation.

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SEX DETERMINATION (In human beings)

“The mechanism by which the sex of an individual is determined as it begins life, is called sex
determination.”

• The sex of a child is determined at the time of fertilization when male and female gametes
fuse to form zygote.
• In diploid organisms, having separate sexes, a specific pair of chromosomes in each diploid
cell determines the sex of the individual. The chromosomes which determine the sex of a
person are called sex chromosomes. All the other chromosomes are termed autosomes as
these have genes which control the somatic (body) characters.
• We have 23 pairs of chromosomes (or 46 chromosomes) (in each pair there is one paternal
copy and one maternal copy). Out of these 23 pairs, one pair is sex chromosome.
• The two members of each pair of homologous autosomes are similar in size and shape, but
this may not be true for sex chromosomes.
• A woman has a perfect pair of sex chromosomes both called X chromosomes, i.e., XX (called
homomorphic having sex chromosomes of same type and shape). Females, therefore produce
same type of all gametes (ova or egg cell). So, female is called homogametic.
• But a man has a mismatched pair in which one is normal sized X but the other is short called
Y chromosome, i.e., XY (called heteromorphic having sex chromosomes of different type
and shape). Males, therefore, produce two different types of gametes (sperms), half of the
gametes having X chromosomes and half having Y chromosomes. So, male is called
heterogametic.

Sex determination mechanism in human beings

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• All children will inherit an X chromosome from their mother regardless of whether they are
boys or girls. Thus, the sex of a child will be determined by what they inherit from their father.
A child who inherits X chromosome will be a girl and who inherits Y chromosome will be a
boy. Therefore, there is a 50% chance of a male child being born and 50% chance
of a female child being born. This mechanism of sex determination in human beings and also
in fruitfly is called XX-XY mechanism.

Role of environmental factors in sex determination:

Sex determination is sometimes regulated by environmental factors also. In some reptiles, the
temperature at which the fertilized egg is incubated before hatching, is important factor for
determining sex of the offspring. Two examples are cited below:
i. Turtles: In turtle, high incubation temperature above 33ºC results in the development of
female progeny while a temperature below 28ºC results in the development of male progeny.
ii. Lizards: High incubation temperature results in male progeny while a temperature below
28ºC results in the development of female progeny.

NOTE: Snails can change sex, indicating that sex is not genetically determined in them.

ACQUIRED AND INHERITED TRAITS

1. Acquired trait: A trait that an organism does not inherit but develops in response to the
environment is called acquired trait.
For example, If a beetle does not get sufficient food for a considerable time, its weight will be reduced
due to starvation. The low weight of beetle is acquired trait. The acquired traits of an organism cannot
be passed on to their future generations.

2. Inherited trait: A trait that can be transmitted to future generation in which changes have occurred
in the genes present in the gametes of parent organism is called inherited trait.

S. ACQUIRED TRAIT INHERITED TRAIT

NO.
1. Acquired trait of an organism doesn’t Inherited trait of an organism is caused by the
transfer to offspring from their parent(s) change in its gene of DNA.
but develops in response to the
environment.

2. Acquired traits develop throughout the Inherited traits are transferred by the parents
lifetime of an individual and dies with the to the offspring at the time of their birth. They
death of that individual. don’t die but are passed on to the next
generation.

3. Acquired traits are somatic variations. Inherited traits are genetic variations.

4. Acquired traits are not present in genetic Inherited traits are present in genetic makeup.
makeup.
5. Acquired traits cannot direct evolution. Inherited traits direct evolution.

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6. Examples: Larger muscle size, skills, Examples: Hair colour, eye colour, skin
knowledge, etc. colour, height, etc.

SKILLS ASSESMENT

Q1) Explain how sexual reproduction gives rise to more viable variations than asexual
reproduction.

Q2) A study found that children with light-coloured eyes are likely to have parents with light-
coloured eyes. On this basis, can we say anything about whether the light eye colour trait is
dominant or recessive? Why or why not?

Q3) A blue colour flower plant denoted by BB is cross bred with that of white colour flower
plant denoted by bb.
i. State the colour of flower you would expect in F1 generation.
ii. What must be the percentage of white flowers in F2 generation if flowers of F1 generation
are self-pollinated?
iii. State the expected ratio of genotypes BB and Bb in F2 progeny.

Q4) A Mendelian experiment consisted of breeding tall pea plants bearing violet flowers with
short pea plants bearing white flowers. The progeny all bore violet flowers, but almost half of
them were short. This suggests that the genetic make-up of the tall parent can be depicted as
(choose the correct option)
(a) TTWW
(b) TTww
(c) TtWW
(d) TtWw

Q5) How is the sex of the child determined in human beings?

Q6) A man with blood group A marries a woman with blood group O and their daughter has
blood group O. Is this information enough to tell you which of the traits – blood group A or O
– is dominant? Why or why not?

Q7) How do Mendel’s experiments show that traits are inherited independently?

Q8) Study the given data and answer the questions that follow:
Parental plants cross F1 (first generation F2 (offspring of self -
fertilized and seeds collected offspring) pollination of F1)
Male parents always bore red 330 seeds sown and observed. Out of 44 seeds, 33 seeds gave
flowers. plants with red flowers and 11
seeds gave plants with white
Female parents always had All 330 plants gave red flowers.
white flowers. flowers.

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i. What is the term used for this type of cross?
ii. What does the data of column F1 marked indicate?
iii. Express the genotype of (a) parents, (b) F1 progeny, (c) F2 progeny.

Q9) The genotype of green stemmed tomato plants is denoted by GG and that of purple-
stemmed tomato plants as gg. When these two plants are crossed:
i. What colour of stem would you expect in F1 progeny?
ii. Give the percentage of purple-stemmed plants if F1 plants are self-pollinated.
iii. In what ratio would you find the genotypes GG and Gg in F2 progeny?

Q10) Name the type of sex chromosomes present in (i) human male, and (ii) human female.
What will be the sex of the offspring if a sperm carrying X-chromosomes fertilizes the egg?
Write the name of the insect in which similar type of sex determination takes place.

Q11) Do genetic combination of mothers play a significant role in determining the sex of a
new born?

Q12) A woman has only daughters. Analyse the situation genetically and provide a suitable
explanation.

Q13) In the following crosses write the characteristics of the progeny

Cross Progeny
(a)RRYY x RRYY ...........................
Round, yellow Round, yellow ...........................
(b) Rr Yy x Rr Yy ...........................
Round, yellow Round, yellow ...........................
(c) rr yy x rr yy ...........................
wrinkled, green wrinkled, green ...........................
(d)RRYYx rryy ...........................
Round, yellow wrinkled green ...........................

Q14) Choose the correct option:

(I) Two pink - coloured flowers on crossing resulted in 1 red, 2 pink and 1 white flower progeny.
The nature of the cross will be
(a) double fertilisation (b) self pollination
(c) cross fertilisation (d) no fertilisation

(II) A cross between a tall plant (TT) and short pea plant (tt) resulted in progeny that were all
tall plants because
(a) tallness is the dominant trait
(b) shortness is the dominant trait
(c) tallness is the recessive trait
(d) height of pea plant is not governed by gene ‘T’ or ‘t’

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(III) If a round, green seeded pea plant (RR yy) is crossed with wrinkled, yellow seeded pea
plant, (rr YY) the seeds produced in F1 generation are
(a) round and yellow (b) round and green
(c) wrinkled and green (d) wrinkled and yellow

(IV) In human males all the chromosomes are paired perfectly except one. This/these unpaired
chromosome is/are
(i) large chromosome (ii) small chromosome
(iii) Y-chromosome (iv) X-chromosome
(a) (i) and (ii) (b) (iii) and (iv)
(c) (iii) only (d) (ii) and (iv)

(V) The maleness of a child is determined by

(a) the X chromosome in the zygote
(b) the Y chromosome in zygote
(c) the cytoplasm of germ cell which determines the sex
(d) sex is determined by chance

(VI) A zygote which has an X-chromosome inherited from the father will develop into a
(a) boy
(b) girl
(c) X- chromosome does not determine the sex of a child
(d) either boy or girl

(VII) Two pea plants one with round green seeds (RRyy) and another with wrinkled yellow
(rrYY) seeds produce F1 progeny that have round, yellow (RrYy) seeds. When F1 plants are
selfed, the F2 progeny will have new combination of characters. Choose the new combination
from the following
(i) Round, yellow (ii) Round, green
(iii) Wrinkled, yellow (iv) Wrinkled, green
(a) (i) and (ii) (b) (ii) and (iii)
(c) (i) and (iv) (d) (i) and (iii)

(VIII) A trait in an organism is influenced by

(a) paternal DNA only
(b) maternal DNA only
(c) both maternal and paternal DNA
(d) neither by paternal nor by maternal DNA

(IX) From the list given below, select the character which can be acquired but not inherited
(a) colour of eye (b) colour of skin
(c) size of body (d) nature of hair

(X) The two versions of a trait (character) which are brought in by the male and female
gametes are situated on
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(a) copies of the same chromosome (b) two different chromosomes
(c) sex chromosomes (d) any chromosome

(XI) In peas, a pure tall plant (TT) is crossed with a short plant (tt). The ratio of pure tall
plants to short plants in F2 i
(a) 1 : 3
(b) 3 : 1
(c) 1 : 1
(d) 2 : 1

(XII) The number of pair (s) of sex chromosomes in the zygote of humans is
(a) one
(b) two
(c) three
(d) four

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