Genotypes and Phenotypes

What is an allele?
•A version of a gene
Example:
There is a gene that controls eye color.
One allele is for blue eyes.
Another allele is for brown eyes.
 Processing Piece:
1) There is a gene that controls hair color. What do
you think two different alleles for this gene might be?
How many alleles for each gene are in
every cell?
• Haploid cells (like gametes) only have one
allele for every gene, because they only have
one set of chromosomes.
• Diploid cells have 2 alleles for every gene,
because they have 2 sets of chromosomes.
 What is a dominant trait?
• A trait that always shows up if an allele
for it is there.
• Represented with capital letters.
• Example: B = brown eyes
 What is a recessive trait?
• A trait that only shows up if there are no
dominant alleles present
• Represented with lower case letters.
• Example: b = blue eyes
 Processing Piece:
• Draw a picture to represent allele, dominant,
and recessive.
 What is phenotype?
• Physical traits
• Example: height, hair color

What is genotype?
• The alleles in your DNA
 Processing Piece:
• Draw a picture to illustrate the difference
between phenotype and genotype.
 What are 3 types of genotypes?
• Homozygous recessive = 2 recessive alleles
–Example: bb
• Heterozygous = 1 recessive, 1 dominant
–Example: Bb
• Homozygous dominant = 2 dominant alleles
–Example: BB
(“Homo” = same, “Hetero” = different)
 Sample Question 1
• B = brown eyes b = blue eyes
• A baby is born with a genotype of BB.
• What is its genotype? (Circle one.)
Heterozygous Homozygous Homozygous
recessive dominant
• What is its phenotype? (Circle one.)
Blue eyes Brown eyes
 Sample Question 2
• D = dimples d = no dimples
• A baby is born with a genotype of Dd.
• What is its genotype? (Circle one.)
Heterozygous Homozygous Homozygous
recessive dominant
• What is its phenotype? (Circle one.)
Dimples No dimples
Baby Dimples
 Exit Ticket
T = tall and t = short.
A pea plant has the genotype Tt.
1) Which trait is dominant: tall or short?
2)Is this pea plant homozygous dominant,
homozygous recessive, or heterozygous?
3) What will its phenotype be?