Heredity and Traits

What is Heredity?
• GENETICS =Branch of biology
that studies biological
information, its variation and
heredity.
• HEREDITY = the passing on of
traits and characteristics from
one generation to the next.
 GREGOR MENDEL
(1822-1884)
• An Augustinian monk of
St. Thomas’s Abbey in
Brno, Czech Republic
• He is known for his
experimentation of
garden peas (pea plants)
• Law of
inheritance/Mendelian
Genetics
 Mendel’s Law of Inheritance
• THE LAW OF SEGREGATION: Each inherited trait is defined by
a gene pair. Parental genes are randomly separated to the sex cells
so that sex cells contain only one gene of the pair. Offspring
therefore inherit one genetic allele from each parent when sex
cells unite in fertilization.
• THE LAW OF INDEPENDENT ASSORTMENT: Genes for
different traits are sorted separately from one another so that
the inheritance of one trait is not dependent on the inheritance of
another.
• THE LAW OF DOMINANCE: An organism with alternate forms
of a gene will express the form that is dominant
 Why did Mendel chose
peas in his experiment?
• Variation among the species
• Many number of offspring in one
cross
• Short life cycle
• Easy to handle or take care
(cross pollination)
PEAS’ OBSERVABLE TRAITS
 Genotypes VS Phenotypes

Phenotypes
Observable expression of a
particular genotype

Genotypes
The genetic make up of an
individual
 What Kinds of Traits Are There?

• Traits are
either
Dominant or
Recessive.
 Dominant Trait
A dominant trait
is a trait that
is always
expressed, or
shown.
– Examples are
brown hair,
brown eyes,
right handed
 Recessive Trait
A recessive trait
is a trait that is
covered up or
seems to
disappear.
– Examples are
blonde hair,
blue eyes, left
handed
 Where Do Traits Come
From?
Factors that make
up an individual
come from both
parents.
The trait
information is
passed on from
generation to
generation in the
form of genes.
 What are Genes?
A gene is a
specific
location on a
chromosome
that controls
a certain
trait.
 How Are Genes Expressed?

Traits are described as

either:
–homozygous, (pure)
–heterozygous, (mixed)
 What are the rules in writing
the traits?
1. Identify the trait 1. Trait: Handedness
2. Identify the alleles 2. Alleles of the
of the trait Trait:
3. Identify the • Right-Handed
dominant and • Left-Handed
recessive trait 3. Right-handed is
dominant over
4. Use the First Letter
Left-Handed
of the DOMINANT
4. Right-Handed -R
TRAIT to represent
Left-Handed -r
the alleles
 Homozygous = Pure
(Homogeneous)
• Pure Dominant: the
individual only has genes
for the dominant trait.
– Example: TT = a pure tall
individual has only tall (T)
genes.

• Pure Recessive: the

individual only has genes
for the recessive trait.
– Example: tt = a pure short
individual has only short (t)
genes.
 Heterozygous = Mixed
(Heterogeneous)
A heterozygous individual
has one dominant gene
and one recessive gene
for a trait. The result is
the dominant gene is the
one expressed, or shown.
– Example: Tt = a
heterozygote tall individual
has both tall (T) and short (t)
genes but looks tall.
 Traits
and
Express
ions in
Humans
 Checkpoint:

Identify which of the following is a Identify whether the following is a

Dominant or Recessive Trait homozygous or heterozygous
1. Brown Colored Eyes and Gray 1. AA
Colored eyes 2. yy
2. Right Handed and Left handed 3. Ee
3. In peas, round shaped seed and
wrinkled shaped seed
 HOW DO WE
PREDICT
OFFSPRINGS?
 1. Punnett Square
• Introduced by Reginald Crundall
Punnett (1875-1967)

• Punnett Square is a graphical

way of predicting all of the
possible combinations of
genotypes that can occur in an
offspring.
Punnett Square
 2. Foil Method
F- irst terms will be crossed
O- uter terms will be crossed
I- nner terms will be crossed
L- ast terms will be crossed
FOIL Method
TEST CROSSES
 • A monohybrid
cross is a
breeding
experiment
between P
Monohybrid
generation
Cross
(parental
generation)
organisms that
differ in a single
given trait.
Monohybrid
Cross
 Sample Exercises
Monohybrid Cross
1. A marriage between a
homozygous right-handed man
and a heterozygous right-handed
woman. Wherein right handed is
dominant over left-handed. Find
the phenotypes and genotypes of
their offspring.
Trait: Handedness
Alleles of the trait: Right handed
Left Handed
Right-Handed -R
Left-Handed -r
Equation:

Results:
Phenotypes: 100% Right handed

Genotypes: 50% RR, homozygous right

50% Rr, heterozygous right
0% rr, homozygous left
 Sample Exercises
Monohybrid Cross
1. A marriage between a
heterozygous tall man and a
heterozygous tall woman.
Wherein tall height is dominant
over short height. Find the
phenotypes and genotypes of
their offspring.
Trait: Height
Alleles of the trait: Tall Height
Short height
Tall height -T
Short height -t
Equation:

Results:
Phenotypes: 75% Tall
25% Short
Genotypes: 25% TT, homozygous tall
50% Tt, heterozygous tall
25% tt, homozygous short
 ACTIVITY
1. Product of the crossing between a
homozygous fair-skin colored male
and a heterozygous fair-skin colored
female. Fair skin is dominant over
dark skin. Give its phenotypes and
genotypes.
2. In rabbits, white fur color (W) is
dominant to black and long ears (L)
are dominant to short. Cross two
rabbits heterozygous for both traits.
Give the phenotype and genotype
ratios.