Applled genetlcs ls the munlpulutlon; of the heredltury churucterlstlcs of un orgunlsm to lmprove or creute speclflc

trults ln offsprlng. Controlled breedlng lnvolves munlpulutlng the heredltury churucterlstlcs of offsprlng by selectlon
purents wlth speclflc phenotyplc trults. Thls process enubles u breeder to develop new strulns of u specles or to
mulntuln exlstlng strulns. Applylng controlled breedlng to plunts und unlmuls hus trudltlonully been bused upon three
technlques: muss selectlon, lnbreedlng, und hybrldlzutlon.
Muss Selectlon und Inbreedlng
Muss selectlon ls the process of chooslng u few
lndlvlduuls. Inbreedlng ls bused on the ussumptlon
thut lndlvlduuls thut possess slmllur phenotypes
ulso wlll possess genotypes. When phenotyplcully
slmllur lndlvlduuls ure bred, offsprlng ure more
llkely to be slmllur to thelr purents. In uddltlon,
offsprlng ure llkely to possess the sume deslred
phenotype. Unfortunutely, lnbreedlng cun
eventuully produce weuker orgunlsms becuuse lt
lncreuses the lncldence of hurmful homozygous
recesslve trults. In hybrldlzutlon two dlfferent but
reluted specles or vurletles of plunts or unlmuls ure
crossed. The products of thls type of crossbreedlng ure culled hybrlds.
Hybrldlzutlon
Hybrlds possess u dlfferent genotype und usuully u phenotype dlfferent from thut of elther
purent. When two dlfferent but closely llnked specles ure crossed, the chromosome
lncomputlblllty durlng melosls cuuses most of thelr hybrld offsprlng to be sterlle. Some
hybrld lndlvlduuls grow fuster und lurger und ur heulthler thun elther purent. Such un
lndlvlduul ls suld to dlspluy hybrld vlgor. Hybrldlzutlon cun reverse the dumuglng effects of
lnbreedlng und results ln hybrld vlgor ln the offsprlng. Thls occurs becuuse hybrldlzutlon
lncreuses the number of heterozygous genes ln un orgunlsm, thus reduclng the llkellhood
thut u hurmful, recesslve ullele wlll be expressed. Other technlques ln upplled genetlcs
munlpulute the genes themselves. Among these technlques ure lnductlon of mututlons,
lnductlon of polyploldy, und use of genetlc englneerlng und gene spllclng. Mututlons occur ut u very low rute ln
nuture. However, ln 1927 the Amerlcun genetlclst H J Muller (1890-1967) found thut he could lnduce u much
greuter rute of mututlon ln Drosophllu by treutlng the flles wlth X-ruys.
Mututlons ln Plunts
Breeders cun ulso lntroduce deslruble trults lnto u specles by
lnduclng polyploldy, u condltlonlng whlch cells contuln multlple,
complete sets of chromosomes. Although polyploldy ls rure und
usuully lethul ln unlmuls, lt often occurs nuturully ln plunts. Plunt
breeders urtlflclully lnduce polyploldy by udmlnlsterlng colchlclne,
u chemlcul thut prohlblts the formutlon of the cell plute durlng cell
dlvlslon. Colchlclne ls usuully upplled by pluclng the roots of the
plunt ln u colchlclne solutlon. Chromosomes ln the cells of the plunt
go through the phuses of cell dlvlslon, but the cell plute does not
form. Therefore, two complete sets of chromosomes exlst. When
the plunt ls removed from the colchlclne solutlon the cells wlll uguln form cell plutes durlng mltosls. Thus ull
resultlng cells wlll contuln un extru set of chromosomes. Genetlc englneerlng, ln whlch sclentlsts dlrectly munlpulute
genes.
Genetlc Englneerlng
Genetlc englneerlng frequently lnvolves the use of recomblnunt DNA,
whlch ls composed of DNA segments from ut leust two dlfferlng
orgunlsms. Genetlc englneerlng hus muny commerclul uppllcutlons.
An exumple ls the use of recomblnunt DNA technology to muke
lnterferon, u proteln produced nuturully by the humun body to lnhlblt
the reproductlon of vlruses. Isolutlng the humun lnterferon gene.
Genetlc englneers use restrlctlon enzymes, protelns thut cur u DNA
molecule lnto pleces. The restrlctlon enzyme EcoRI cuts DNA
wherever the sequence C-T-T-A-A-G occurs. Other restrlctlon
enzymes cut DNA ut dlfferent nucleotlde sequences. By uslng the
proper restrlctlon enzyme sclentlsts cun cut the humun lnterferon gene out of lts chromosome. Once the gene for
lnterferon ls removed, lt ls sepuruted from the rest of the DNA und then lnserted lnto u strund of bucterlul DNA.
Gene Spllclng
Gene spllclng ls the process by whlch u gene from one orgunlsm ls pluced lnto the DNA of
unother orgunlsm. In our exumple, the humun lnterferon gene ls pluced lnto the DNA of E.
coll, the common bucterlum of the humun lntestlne. In
uddltlon to u slngle, clrculur chromosome, E. coll
contulns u slngle, smull rlng of DNA. The plusmld rlng
ls removed from the bucterlum und then opened wlth u
restrlctlon enzyme. The humun lnterferon gene und the
bucterlul plusmld huve "stlcky ends" unpulred buses ut euch end of the DNA segment, where
they were cleuved by restrlctlon enzymes. As the humun DNA ls spllced lnto the plusmld
DNA, the unpulred buses of euch bond reudlly. A newly formed plusmld contulns both humun und bucterlul DNA.
The process by whlch the humun gene ls repllcuted ls culled gene clonlng. Gene sequenclng ls the process of
determlnlng the exuct order of buses ln u frugment of DNA.