Mendel's Plant Breeding Experiments
brown eyes (can only have
- Gregor Mendel was one of the first to
apply an experimental approach to the
question of inheritance.
- For seven years, Mendel bred pea plants
and recorded inheritance patterns in the
offspring.
Mendel’s Interpretation
- Parents do not transmit their
physiological traits or form directly to
their offspring, rather they transmit
distinct information about the traits
(factors), these factors later act in the
offspring to produce the trait
- Each parent contains two factors, which
may or may not be the same
(homozygous or heterozygous)
- The two alleles, one contributed by the
male and the one by the female gamete
remain distinct, alleles do not blend with
one another or become altered in any
other way
Mendel’s Conclusion
Mendel’s First Law: LAW OF SEGREGATION
“Each organism contains two factors for each
trait, and the factors segregate (separate) during
the formation of gametes so that each gamete
contains only one factor for each trait. When
fertilization occurs, the new organism has two
factors for each trait, one from each parent.” ❖
When an individual produces gametes, the
copies of a gene separate so that each gamete
receives only one copy
◼ Only one characteristic can be found in a
gamete
◼ Ex. Blue eyes vs.
one of them)
Mendel’s Second Law: LAW OF
INDEPENDENT ASSORTMENT
“Members of one pair of factors segregate
(assort) independently of members of another
pair of factors. Therefore, all possible
combinations of factors can occur in the
gametes.
❖ Alleles of different genes assort
independently of one another during gamete
formation
◼ For two characteristics, the genes are
inherited independently of one another
◼ Also called the "Inheritance Law“
◼ Ex. If you had the genotype AaBb you would
make four kinds of gametes: they would contain
the combinations of either AB, Ab, aB, or ab.
Law of Dominance
◼ Some alleles are dominant and some are
recessive
❖ When an organism has two different alleles
for a trait (a hybrid or heterozygous), the allele
that is expressed is the dominant one
◼ Ex. Blue eyes vs. Brown eyes (Bb- brown is
expressed therefore it is dominant)
- In the monohybrid cross (mating of two
organisms that differ in only one
character), one version disappeared.
The F1 crossed produced the F2 generation and
the lost trait appeared with predictable ratios.
This led to the formulation of the current model
of inheritance.
TEST CROSS
▪ Used to determine if an individual expressing
the dominant trait is homozygous or
heterozygous
Monohybrid Cross
• One-trait testcross
• If the parent expressing the dominant trait is
homozygous, none of the offspring will show
the recessive characteristics
• But if the parent expressing the dominant trait
is heterozygous, there is a 50% chance that any
offspring will show the recessive characteristics
PUNNETT SQUARE
◼ Grid used for organizing genetic info and
making predictions
◼ Introduced by a poultry geneticist, Reginald
Punnett in the early 1900s
Dihybrid Cross
• Two-trait testcross
• If the parent expressing the dominant trait is
homozygous, one of the offspring will show the
recessive characteristics
• But if the parent expressing the dominant trait
is heterozygous, there is a 75% chance that any
offspring will show the recessive characteristics
Multiple Alleles
▪ A given gene can have more than two alleles
▪ Classic example in humans is the ABO blood
group
▪ These genes are called A, B, AB, and O
▪ Both the allele for type A blood and that for
type B blood are dominant
▪ Thus this combination is inherited, the child
will have an AB blood type
ANTIGEN (Agglutinogen-kind of protein)
• On the surface of the cell membrane of red
blood cells, there are proteins protruding out.
• These proteins are called antigens or
agglutinogens.
• They are used to identify the cells as self.
Antibodies
• Your body's defense mechanism. Antibodies
attack foreign substances.
• If the wrong blood type is transfused into a
person (such as A into an O person), the
antibodies in the recipient's blood will try to
destroy the group A cells.
The Story of Blood Transfusions 1492
▪ As Pope Innocent VIII sank into a coma, the
blood from 3 boys was given through the
mouth.
▪ All 4 individuals died. the mid-1600s
▪ A British physician transfused sheep's blood
into a soldier. The soldier died a painful death.
1881
▪ First recorded human-to-human blood
transfusion by British physician James Blundell.
▪ Patient shows initial improvement and then
dies
1901
• Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner discovers
the three main human blood groups (A, B and
Che later changed from C to O). For this, he
was awarded the Nobel Prize.
• He mixed red blood cells with different kinds
of blood. When he mixed A blood with red
blood cells from the B group, he saw clumping.
The same thing happened when he did the
opposite.
• He found that when he put red blood cells
from group C into any other blood type, there
was never any clumping
1902
• Dr. Alfred von Decastello and Adriano Sturli
identify AB blood type which clumps in both A
and B blood.
• This clumping is called agglutination. 1917
• Dr. Oswald Robertson collects and stores type
O blood to be used for casualties in World War
I. • This would be the first blood bank.

1907
• Dr. Reuben Ottenberg, New York, performs
the first transfusion using cross-matching
(matching blood types). • Over the next several
years, he virtually eliminates transfusion
reactions

Law of segregation:

- The law states that all the genes for all the traits of an
organism are equally divided and are equally distributed
in all the resulting gametes after meiosis.
Monohybrid Cross

Law of Independent Assortment:

The law states that alleles of different genes are

distributed randomly to the gametes
and fertilization occurs at random
Dihybrid Cross

Law of Complete Dominance

This principle states that a cross between homozygous

dominant genes and homozygous recessive genes will
result to a progeny of heterozygous genes determining all
dominant traits

Law of Incomplete Dominance

This principle states that a cross between homozygous

dominant genes and recessive genes will result to a
progeny of heterozygous genes determining an
intermediate trait between the dominant trait and
recessive trait.