CHAPTER9
HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION
Chapter Checklist
Heredity,Variations and
Mendel's Contribution
Variations
Inherntance of Traits
Mendel's Contribution
towards the Inheritanoe of
Traits
Organic Evolution
Variations in a Population
Acquired and Inherited
Traits
Speciation
OEvolution and Classification
Basic Characteristics of an
Organism
Evolutionary Relationship
with Classification
Tracing Evolutionary
Relationships
Evolution by Stages
Evolution Versus Progress
When a baby is born in a family, everybody looks for his/her resenmblances tof
mother. Sometimes, the baby resembles one ot his/ her parent more and som
neither of them. All this due to heredity
occurs
Heredity deals with the resemblances and diferences or variations among
organisms.
The biological science, which deals with the mechanism ofherediny or inheri
causes ot variation within berween different species is
same species or t
genetics.
HEREDITY, VARIATIONS AND
MENDEL'S CONTRIBUTION
The transmission of characters or traits trom one generation to other (from p
offsprings) is known as inheritance or heredity. This inheritance ot characters m
place during sexual or asexual reproduction. These reproductive proceses give ee
new individuals which may difter in certain characters or traits
Variations
The differences in the characters
(traits) among the individuals of a specis ar ale
variations.
Variations may also be produced during asexual mode of
small inaccuracies in copying of DNA), but sexual
reproduction (duc n t
reproduction
number of variations, e-g. in plants, less variations are seen in
producs a
which reproduce mainly by sexual
comparison to anim
reproduction.
Variations are beneficial and necessary for
organic evolution. These variations mt
environmental or genetic.
Environmental Variations
These are caused by our environment, which includes
diet, chemicals, radianes
environmental pollution.
 e r e d i t ya n d E

Evolution
v o l u t i o n

261

the side ot tne

eneticVariations

attached to

the
caused by genetic differen
variati
ree earlobes, the eariobe isthe earlobe is closely attache
not

rigy
of
nlation, which may arise due to mutation, meiosis ad and in attached earlobe,
the side of the head. This trait is
apopu
e x u a lr e p r o d u
duction. hereditary
y o t h e r
haracteristics are
influenced by both
ament and renes from parents, c.g. people
ay have a tendency to be tall, but unless
in a
they eat
m a l ym a y

at
theggrowing age the may not become tall.
the

yeriy

ulation of Vartations During

Reproduction (b) Attached Earlobe
(a) Free Earlobe
ance from the previous generation provides both a
body design and subtle changes in it, for the next
on. Now, whenthe new generation reproduces, the Mendel's Contribution towards the
ond eration produced will have variations that they Inheritance of Traits
related
herit from the first generatior as well as
newly created The rules for inheritance of traits in human beings are
to the fact that both father and mother contribute equal
erences.
amount of genetic material the child. This m e a n s that each
to
if one bacterium livides and give rise to two maternalDNA.
trait can be influenced by both paternal and
crample,
For duals, each of them will divide
again and give rise to Thus, for each trait there will be two versions in the child.
ther individuals in the next
O
generation. The four
idual bacteria generated would be very similar with
o r differences that ocCurred due to small inaccuracies in
Gregor Johann Mendel(1822-1884)
He was an Austrian Geneticist who, due to his
ng of DNA. However, in sexual reproduction, greater knowledge of mathematics, was the first to
esity will be generated. Depending upon the nature of keep count of individuals exhibiting a
aions, different individuals would have different particular trait in each generation to study
irantages, like bacteria, which can withstand heat, will inheritance patterns in pea plants. Some of
heat the basic laws of inheritance were proposed
Tve better in a wave.
by him and now he is known to world as the
Father of Genetics.
Significance of Variations
( They form the basis of heredity.
Mendel worked out the main rules of such
inheritances. The
Gi) Adaptability to adverse conditions is brought about
heredity in most of the living organisms is found to be
by variations.
regulated by certain definite principles. Mendel opted for
23) New varieties of an organism may arise due to the garden pea (Pisum sativum) to conduct his experiments. His
genetic variations laying the foundation for evolution. experiments with garden pea along with the inferences drawn
Mutation is a sudden inheritable change in
the geneor together constitute, the foundation of modern genetics.
chiromosorme, which usually produces a detectable effect in
Mendel selected garden pea for his experiments because
organism concerned and is transmitted to the offsprings.
) these grow quickly and are easier to study.
Inheritance of Traits (i) pea plants can be crossed or self-pollinated and have a
flower structure that limits accidental contact.
o r characteristics, which are passed on from parents
( i garden pea has a number of easily detectable
ra spring generation to generation are controlled by
e ue to the differences in genetic makeup human contrasting characters.
O n s show a great deal of variations in expression of Mendel's contributions were unique because of the use of
distinct variables and application of mathematics to the
o

raits, c.g. skin colour, colour, shape of

height, eye
e, lips and ears, blood groups, etc.
problem. He kept the record of each generation separately
Lke and studied the inheritance of only one pair of characters at a
ttached and free earlobes variants found in are two
time. Before going further, we will discuss some terms related
doeopulations. The lowest part of the is called the ear
be. toinheritance of characters, so that we can understand
Mendel's work in a better way.
 Allinone sCIENCE
262
century ago,
Mendel worked out
he main nle
Some Important Terms and Definitions More than a

Used in Heredity inheritance.

two experiments:
He performed
following
Term Definition
Gene A functional unit of heredity present on Inheritance of Traits for
chromosomes of cell nucleus. It is
1. One C o n t r a s t i n g C h a r a c t e r

composed of DNA and codes for one

polynucleotide (protein).
It determines a particular character
Mendel took pea plants
with ditterent characteri

and short plants).

haracteristics su
(phenotype).
height (tall
from them (F-generat
The progeny produced eration
Allele then allowed F
One of the different forms of a particular
gene, e.g. hair colour. were all tall. Mendel
Fprogeny plann
undergo self-pollination.
Dominant allele An allele, whose phenotype WIll be
he found that all plants were not
expressed even in the presence of another I n theF,-generation,
and one quarter of them
allele of that gene. three quarter were tall
It is represented by a capital letter, e.g. T. indicated that both the traits o
This observation
Recessive allele in -generation, bur
An allele, which gets masked in the
and tallness were inherited
presence of dominant allele and can only tallness trait was expressed in Fj generation. This isis knos
affect the phenotype in the absence of a
dominant gene, as the law of dominance.
It is represented by a small letter, e.g.t.
Genotype Genetic composition of an individual.

Phenotype Ihe expression of the genotype, which is an

Observable or measurable characteristic.

Punnett square Probability diagram, illustrating the possible

offsprings of mating.
Chromosome A long rod-like structure in a nucleus. It
Tall Short All tall offsprings
appears during cell division and is thought (TTDx (tt) (Tt)
to carry genes.
PxP F
Hybrid An individual having two different alleles for
Mendel's experiment showing law of dominance
the same trait

Monohybrid cross Ahybridisation cross in which inheritance of Two copies of the traits are inherited in each seu
only one pair of contrasting characters is
studied.
reproducing organism.
TT and Tt are phenotypically tall plants, whereastr
Dihybrid cross A cross in which inheritance of fwo pairs of
short
Contrasting characters is simultaneously plant. For a plant to be tall, the single copy ofT
studied. enough. Therefore, in traits Tt, T is a dominanttrairv
tis recessive trait. In
Homozygous A condition in which an individual
a
F2-generation, both the charace
possesses a pair of identical genes
are recovered, though one of these is
in F, s not seen
controlling a given character and will breed During gamete formation, the factor or allele of a
true. for this character (e.g. occurrence of segregate trom each other. This is known as the law
two identical alleles for tallness in a P tall
pea plant).
segregation.
Heterozygous A condition in which an individual has a pair
of contrasting genes for any one character
and will not breed true for this character
(e.g. existence of dominant and recessive
alleles in F hybrid tall pea plant).

Progeny A descendant or offspring as a daughter

organism.
lall Tall Tall Tall Tall Shno
Gametes Reproductive cells containing only one set
(haploid) of dissimilar chromosome.
(Tt)x (T) TT (T) (TI) t)
Mendel's experiment ation
showing law of segregau
 15
4 30 15
y d i t yand EVolution
Evolution

45
d i ya n d

30
Oth 56 263
teritanceoff7 af Traits for Two Visible
for
Mmher

Mend
pa
plants with two Contrasting Characters
rod the other one withcontrasting characters,
| Parents O
yellow wrinkled seed.i.e. one with green
rr YY
oundseed a
a RRYy
(Round green) (Wrinkled yellow)
iprogeny as
obtained
,
Whenthe
establishing that round and yellow arethey had round and yellow seeds, thus
dominant traits. Gametes Ry

Mendel then allowed the Fiprogeny to be Fr-generation

en, He found that seeds were self-crossed
as
obtain F2 progeny

led yellow and some were

wrinkled green.
(self-pollination)
round yellow, to
round green,
Ry
(Round yellow)

ts) The
fplants with above characteristics F
,
rahserved that two new combinations was 9:3:3:1, Ratio
had appeared in respectively
(Mendelo
to F2-generation 315 round yellow 9

oration, all the four characters were F,).

I n ag
8 enerat

said that a pair of

Therefore, he sa assorted out
independent of the
108 round green
O 3
, others.

hehavesindependenently of the other pair, i.e. seed or alternating contrasting charactersof

101 wrinkled yellow 3

colour is 32winkled green 1

CSS This is known as the law of
seed coat.

independent
assortment.
independent 556 seeds 16
ne
Wn
auc remember that the dominant trait is
given in Independent inheritance of two
recessive trait is given in a small letter ().
a
capital letter (T) and the separate traits, shape and colour of
seeds

A Summary of Mendel's
Laws of Inheritance
Law States That
Parent Cross Offspring
When parent plants are pure for
OTI nance contrasting traits, only one Tx tt Tt (All tall)
form of the trait wll appear in the next
generation, that is known (Tall) (Short)
as dominant trait (). The hidden trait () is recessive.
In F hybrid, the dominant and recessive traits
Tegaton though remain Ttx Tt 3:1
together for long time but do not mix with each other and
separate r segregate at the time of gamete formation. (Tall) (Tall) (Tall Short)

ECET Cent The inheritance of one character is always independent of the RRyy x Y 9:3:3:1
oment inheritance of other character within the same individual.
lly (ROund green, wrinkled yellow) (ROund yellow: round green
wrinkled yellow wrinkled green)
a

is sis of Expression of Traits

1le
r DNA is the source of information for making proteins in the cell. A section of DNA that provides information for
es
aTticular protein is called a gene (unit of heredity that controls the characteristics of living organism).
air ple, as we know that plants have hormones that can triggergrowth so, the amount of plant hormone formed will
of Ckrmin
ne the plant's height, The amount of plant hormone made, wll depend on the etticiency of the process for making it.
nder an enzyme important for this process. If this enzyme works etticiently, a lot of hormones will be made (i.e. tall
t h e gene for enzyme has an alteration, the enzyme will be less etticient hence, amount of hormone produced will be
ie.
h
smalIl plant).This
p proves that the traits (characters) are controlled by genes only. Just like plants, the traits in animals
DCings are also transmitted through genes from the parents by the process of sexual reproduction.

anism of Inheritance
Tfboth PalChts
p4Cna pea help to determine the trait in the progeny, both parents must be contributi a copy of the same gene.
hus, e plant must have two sets of all genes, one inherited from each parent. So, each germ cell must have onlur
one gene set.
ach
of gene is present not as a sinale thread of DNA, but as separate independent pieces called chromosome and
set
ach cell willhave two copies of each chromosome, one innentu u
have two copies
a palrent, l.e. one from male parent and one
om female parent. o
hen tv the normal number
progeny, ensuring the
of chromos in the
germ cells combine, they will
restore
abil of inheritance explains the result of Mendel
by allthe DNA ofspecies. Such mechanism experiments and is used
ually and asexually reproducing organismns.
264 Allinone sCIENCE

Sex Determination Genetics

inheritance form the basi.
A
person have either a
can The rules of
because of its vari
male sex or a female sex. We study genetics ous pres
The process by which sex applications.

of a newborn individual is Practical applications of genetics are:

determined is called sex ( Animal husbandry lmprovement of don
determination. There are animals.
different strategies by (i) Legal application Analysis of bloo
which sex is determined in used to solve court cases of
different species. In some Male Female parentage, baby mix in hospitals, etc
species, environmental (it) Agriculture With the help
factors are important in Gametes
determining the sex of the knowledge, plant breeders have
developing individual. produced several Superior varieti
different food crops.
C.g in reptiles the
temperature at which the Zygote
fertilised eggs are
kept, CHECK POINT 1
KX XY
determines the sex of the
offspring. In turtles, at 1 Achild bearing all the basic features of a human
does not look exactlyliIke its parents? Give rea
high temperature more
females are formed, while Offsprings 2 Variation is an important aspect of reprod
in lizards, it Which type of offsprings shoW maximum vanat
gives
rise to
Female
more males. In other Male 3 Variations said to be
are an important step leat
Sex determination in human beings
animals, such as snails, evolution'. Why is presence of variation in orga
individuals can change sex in different conditions, indicating that sex so important?
IS not genetically determined. 4 Mutation also leads to variation.
Justify this statsne
The determination of sex occurs 5 Parent pea plants were crossed for
largely by genetic control in human i.e. round and wrinkled seeds. The
contrasting
beings. The genes inherited from the parents determine the sex of the progeny ot
in F-generation is Tt, TT, Tt and tt. Which
individual. of thesea
dominant and recessive traits? Give reason.
In human beings, there are 23
pairs of chromosomes,
out of
which 22 6 Write the sex of the
baby that inherits Y-chromo
pairs are autosomes and one pair is sex chromosome. These sex from the father.
chromosomes vary in males and females. A male has one X and one 7 If a couple is
having only sons. What poss
Y-chromosome, i.e. half male gametes or sperms will have short explanation as a biology student, will you reaso
Y-chromosome and other halfwill have X-chromosome. A female has this?
two X-chromosomes, i.e. all the female
gametes (ova) will have only
X-chromosome.
All children obtain either chromosome from both
ORGANIC EVOLUTION
parents. Females Evolution or
organic evolution is the sequenz
have a perfect pair of sex chromosome
(homogametic) and thus, gradual changes from simple life forms to co
contribute X-chromosome to both the sexes of
progeny but males life forms, i.e.
from primitive
have a mismatched pair
(heterogametic)
in which one is X (normal over millions of
organisms thatu
sized) and the other is Y-chromosome (short in size). years ago to new organis
exist
today. Since, the evolution involves the l
Hence, an egg fertilised by X carrying sperm results in a zygote with organisms, so it is called organic evolution.
XX, which becomes a female and if an egg is fertilised by Y Evolution is all about
sperm, it results in a XY zygote that becomes male. Thus, the sex of
carrying changes, improvem
modification of simple life forms. The ne
the children will be determined by what they inherit from their
evolution states that all
father. A child who inherits an X-chromosome will be a and one girl or existed
living things that e istto
betore have evolved from
who inherits a Y-chromosome will be a boy. forms. The evidence for Sn
es from
studies of fossils. evolution co rio
Note All children will inherit an X-chromosome from their mother,
regardless ol whether they are boys or ginls.
According to Darwin, evol
Descent with Modifications.
 e l l i l ya n n d E v o l u t i o n
265
anlatlonsln aa Populatlon
ns in plant disease mnay get
efeed Alter a lew yeans, the fod for the beetles,
bea lot of
idulo t l tnl there will In this case,
n
l l n tWn piren en heY will egin their otmal weight.
Murring Hence, only a
ee n i inetie thange
lelea live in unhe
willh geenleaves, thei eionypievariation berWeen the orgnisi8 w
lentieal nnypes may arise

at
w f u l i n o n
l beelit, Valalon may
tnU dirog the -

lan Duin eonlueton, olour viiion mnay

variat.ion armong population
i h may ind loe ioluo henotypio
een beede
he green colour to a ony
Acqulred and Inherited Traits
loured Deetles the lifetime of an
on green leave, 80
The charac teristics developed during its profgeny are
individual, that cannot be pssed on to
The Tifetime
u wdeV oneh (OiDue tobe eaten and numberof green temed as cquired traite (characters),
i e in the pop on n i 6 case,Varlathon glvesa Keriencs of an individual cannot
be passed to their
ladvantA e t l 6lecon oxeted by h e cows oflaprings and are not controlled genetically.
the
T'or example, if we breed group of mice and
remove
IVIVl of grnen Deetles, a
lad o the would not bC
talls of thiese mice by surgery, the progeny thC
tallless because removal of the tail cannot change
celle the mice and cannot direct the
gOnes of orm of
evolutio Thus, it proves that change in
non reproductive tissues cannot be passed on to
the DNA
fiurvival due to the Variatlon
uatlon I1 In another ituation, A colour variation ariningg of the germ cells,
Inherited trait those characteristics which are
are
ing reproduction may reult in a blue beetle insteud of grey from their parents (i.e. from o n e
received by offsprings
Mallis progeny will be blue, CroWn Can 6ce both Blue and encration to another because they are controlled by
wwoloured beetles and therefore, can eat them, At the ounct,
Kence) like colour hair
of and eycs, shape of nose, earlobes,
r area few blue beetles and more of grey beetles. Suddenly,
ctC.
dephant stumps o n the bushes and illh most of the bectles. There is also reshufling of gene/chromosome by chance
dance, the lew beetleu that urvived werc mostly Bluc,
gadually increane in number. Thin change in the
during separation of chromosomes at the time of
in a population which provides garnetogenesis and fertilisation, which might also lead to
y o 0ome
fene variation.
nity witlhour Any Urvival disadvantage in called
eic drilt Charles Robert Darwin(1809-1882)
He was a Britush naturallst who
formulated his hypothesis that evolution
took place due to natural selection and
proposed the theory of natural selection.
also known as Darwinlsm. He was an
accomplished naturalist and he also
Conducted studles on the role of
oarthworms In soll fertlity

Darwin's theory was based on inherited traits and their

variations.
drilt
The four observatios are:
Conogpt of genetio
() Individuals within a species differ from each
lion III The discase and the
bushes
leaf material for
Catch a plant
reduced due to
other, there is variation.
the bectles has (i) Offsprings resemble their parents: their
beetles are
houiulation of beetles. As a result, the characteristics are inherited.
has
cd and of an adult beetle
an averay weight
266 Allinone sCIENCE
He
(i) The number of offsprings isolation is the major factor fo
produced are more than Geographical
the number survived to reach isolation in sexually
reproducing animals onlP
maturity. They suffer
Irom predation, disease and
competition. in case of asexually
reproducing organisms. E
(iv) Populations remain
fairly constant in size. However, inbreeding
continues within Evo
more and more deve
Origin of Life on Earth populations producing
members of these two Cha
When a
specles cannot evolve last enough to compete in a
Eventually, the
ith each
with each other even groups w wor

changingenvironment, t may become extinct. This might incapable of reproducing ( o fh

to meet. Over generations,
genetic drift
happen, l the environment changes very quickly, happen
g extinction of tigers, etc. different changes in a sub-population. Also,
natel pho
variably in these different sdes Clas
JBS Haldane a British blologlst, blochemist and may also operate
proposedin 1929 that lile must have orlginated geneticlst,
from the locations. e.g. in the territory of one sub-populati
ilation, e B r O L

simple inorganic molecules which might have originated on the eliminated by eagles.
Telat

Earth through a long serles ol may get

physiochemical changes, to more But this may not be the
case in the other sub-no
Hie
Complex organic molecules that were brought about Iirst by rank
numbers will become
chemlcal evolution. This gradual
change or development of whereas a result the crow Very hig men
complex lorms Irom slmpler lorms is known as organic an outcome of this, the green variation will not be sel
evolutlon. the first site, while it will be strongly selected at the
Stanley L Miller and Harold C Urey in 1953 gave an Ba
experimental support to Ilaldane's theory of origin of Iife. They Together, the processes of genetic drift and natural ed
isolated sub-populations more and
created an atmosphere similar to that which exlsted on may make two
Earth (containing hydrogen, ammonia, methane,
carly different from each other. This will lead to generationg
hydrogen
sulphide and water vapour, but no oxygen) over water in an species.
airtight apparatus, This was malntalned at a
temperature just These new species may have developed
below 100°C and sparks were passed
through the mixture of () if the DNA changes are severe enough, such 4
gases to stimulate lightening. At the end of a week, 15% of
the carbon Irom CH, had been converted to change in the number of chromosomes, cvenn
simple
carbon
compounds, Including amino aclds (which make up protein the germ cells of the two groups cannot fue
molecule). cach other.
i) it a new variation emerges in which femalesare
Speciation able to mate with few males due to their specifica
A species is defincd group of interbreeding organisms
as a
This allows very strong natural selection for
that produce fertile offspring and are reproductively isolated
trait
from other groups.
Reproductive isolation means that sexual reproduction
Note Allopatric speciation is the formation of new
species t EvC
populations occurring in different areas due to some Cla
between different species is impossible because of the physical barrier. Sympatric speciation is thedevelopre
physical, ecological, behavioural, temporal or developmental ot new species within that area due to reproductive The
isolation, mutation, etc. they
reasons.
their
Physical There may be a sea, mountain or desert
help
between them. CHECK POINT 2 Abr
Behavioural Populations may have different courtship ance
Evolution indicates the forever evolving life on
patterns,
statement
the Earn. Agi
supporting the above claim.
Temporal (time based) Plants may be flowering at
Explain whether the traits like eye colour, height
her
different times. and p
strength are genetically acquired or not. Give reason. gran
inhabit different places and relati
Ecological Species never I f your mother has pierced ears, will you inherit the trait?1
meet up. why?
Speciation is the development of one or more species from 9The number of offsprings produced are often re uthan u
Tra
n
an existing species. The geographical isolation (allopatric Surviving to reach maturity. Why?
speciation) of two groups of population leads to their 5 On the
basis of Miller and orgar
which Urey's experiment, ca ayoudes Com
reproductive isolation (sympatric speciation) due to the atmospheric
conditions of the Earth before life ard
COmr
no genes are exchanged between them. How does
geographical isolation results
isolation among
n reproo as gi
sexually active organisms