Heredity and

Evolution
Reason for the selection of pea plants for
the genetic experiments
• Easy to grow in the garden.
• The flowers of pea plants are hermaphrodite, i.e
flowers have bisexual characteristics.
• Easy to obtain pure breed plant through self-
fertilization
• The generation time of pea plants is less.
• They have excellent disease resistance and have an
optimal rate of survival.
• Heredity
The process by which the features of an organism are passed on
from one generation to another is called heredity.
• Dominant traits
The traits that express themselves in an organism in every possible
combination and can be seen are called Dominant traits.
• Recessive traits
A trait which is not expressed in the presence of a dominant allele
is known as recessive.
• Monohybrid cross
When only one character is considered while crossing two organisms, then such a
cross is known as a monohybrid cross.
• Dihybrid cross
When two characters are considered while crossing two organisms, then such a
cross is known as a dihybrid cross.
• Phenotype: A phenotype could be defined as an observable
characteristic of an organism, which is a result of the
interaction of its genotype and environment.
• Examples: Skin colour, eye colour

• Genotype: The genetic makeup of a cell, which determines its

characteristics, is called the genotype of a cell.
• Example: the pea plant’s tall dominant genes
• The Law of Dominance: Mendel’s law of dominance
states that when parents with pure contrasting traits are
crossed together, only the dominant trait will appear as
the phenotype of the next generation. The recessive trait
will be concealed.
 The Law of Segregation:
• According to the law of segregation, only a single
copy of two gene copies present in a cell is
distributed in each gamete (sperm or egg cell) that it
produces. The offspring will acquire one gene copy
from each parent.
Or
in form of
Punnett
square
The Law of Independent Assortment:
• According to the law of independent assortment, the
alleles of two or more different genes are sorted into
gametes (sperm and egg cells), independently of one
another. It can be simplified stating that the allele a
gamete receives from one gene does not influence
another allele received for another gene.
 Sex determination
• The process of determining the sex of an individual, based on the
composition of the genetic material is called sex determination.
• In humans, sex determination happens on the basis of the type of
chromosome whether X Or Y is inherited from father.
• XX is female and XY is male
• An ovum always contains an X chromosome.
• An ovum, upon fusion with the Y containing sperm, gives rise to
a male child and upon fusion with the X containing sperm gives
rise to a girl child.