Inheritance

Objectives
(a) describe the difference between continuous and discontinuous variation and give examples of each; (b) state that a chromosome includes a long molecule of DNA; (c) state that DNA is divided up into sections called genes; (d) explain that genes may be copied and passed on to the next generation; (e) define a gene as a unit of inheritance and distinguish clearly between the terms gene and allele; (f) describe complete dominance using the terms dominant, recessive, phenotype and genotype; (G) predict the results of simple crosses with expected ratios of 3:1 and 1:1, using the terms homozygous, heterozygous, F generation and F generation; (G) explain why observed ratios often differ from expected ratios, especially when there are small numbers of progeny; (I) explain codominance by reference to the inheritance of the ABO blood group phenotypes (A, B, AB, O, gene alleles I and I (J)describe the determination of sex in humans (XX and XY chromosomes);
1 2 AB O

What are chromosomes?

Genetic materials found inside the nucleus of a cell Made up of a chemical substance called DNA Each cell in each type of organism has a definite number of chromosomes Somatic cells has Diploid Number of chromosomes while sex cells have Haploid Number of chromosomes.

DNA
It is a long molecule described as a double helix because there are two strands which are twisted and held together by pairs of chemical units called bases.

There are four bases and they are:

Adenine (A) Cytosine (C) Thymine (T) Guanine (G)

DNA structure

DNA is a very large molecule made up of a long chain of sub-units

The sub-units are called nucleotides Each nucleotide is made up of a sugar called deoxyribose a phosphate group -PO4 and an organic base

Ribose is a sugar, like glucose, but with only five carbon atoms in its molecule

Deoxyribose is almost the same but lacks one oxygen atom

Both molecules may be represented by the symbol

The organic bases are Adenine Thymine Cytosine Guanine (A) (T) (C) (G)

The deoxyribose, the phosphate and one of the bases

Combine to form a nucleotide

PO4
adenine

deoxyribose

PO4

A molecule of DNA is formed by millions of nucleotides joined together in a long chain The DNA usually consists of a double strand of nucleotides in which The sugar-phosphate chains are on the outside and the strands are held together by chemical bonds between the bases
+ bases

PO4

PO4

PO4

sugar-phosphate backbone

2-stranded DNA
PO4 PO4 PO4
PO4

PO4

PO4

PO4

PO4

PO4
PO4

PO4
PO4

PO4 PO4 PO4

PO4

The bases always pair up in the same way Adenine forms a bond with Thymine
Adenine Thymine

and Cytosine bonds with Guanine

Cytosine Guanine

(REMEMBER AT Cricket Ground)

PO4
adenine thymine

PO4

PO4 PO4
cytosine guanine

PO4 PO4

PO4

PO4

The sequence of bases down the length of the DNA molecule forms a code which instructs the cell to make particular proteins. Proteins are made from amino acids linked together.

A group of three bases (a triplet) controls the production of a particular amino acid in the cytoplasm of the cell The different amino acids and the order in which they are joined up determines the sort of protein being produced

For example
Cytosine

Adenine

Codes for

Valine

Thymine Cytosine (C) Guanine (G) Adenine (A)

Codes for

Alanine

This is known as the triplet code Each triplet codes for a specific amino acid
CGA - CAA - CCA - CCA - GCT - GGG - GAG - CCA Ala Val Gly Gly Arg Pro Leu Gly

The amino acids are joined together in the correct sequence to make part of a protein
Ala Val Gly Gly Arg Pro Leu Gly

The unit of inheritance

Chromosomes contain the long molecule DNA which is made up into sections called genes. A gene is defined as a unit of inheritance.

 During cell division, genes are copied and these copies are passed on from parent to offsprings via chromosomes in the nuclei of the parents gametes. E.g. if a cell contains two chromosomes and if this cell undergoes meiosis it would produce four cells with half the number of chromosomes.

Genes & Alleles

A sequence of triplets in the DNA molecule may code for a complete protein. Such a sequence forms a gene.

There may be a thousand or more bases in one gene.

Genes are genetic material on a chromosome that code for a trait (particular characteristic). For example, you have a gene for eye color.

gene controlling skin colour gene controlling tongue rolling chromosome gene controlling eye colour gene controlling blood group

A gene is a short length of DNA on a chromosome which is a unit determining an inherited character It consists of a chemical substance called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

 Chromosomes always exist in pairs in the body (somatic) cells

Each human somatic cell has 46 chromosomes 23 pairs of homologous chromosomes

A human egg cell and a human sperm cell both contain 23 single chromosomes. Fertilisation brings these two sets of single chromosomes together to make 23 matching or homologous pairs of chromosomes in the embryo.

Each of these pairs of chromosomes contains genes inherited from the father and genes inherited from the mother, and these genes are in pairs, both coding for the

same characteristic - so you have two genes controlling

eye colour, for example. These different forms of the same gene are called alleles. The gene for eye colour has an allele for blue eye colour and an allele for brown eye colour.

 Alternative forms of genes on the same position of the homologous chromosomes which control the same character but have different expressions

allele for skin colour Allele for hair colour

allele for skin colour

Members of homologous Allele chromosomes carry the for hair colour same genes (controlling the same character) in same loci
But the genes on the members of homologous chromosomes may be of different forms (effects) Alleles

If both the alleles inherited by the zygote for a particular

characteristic are the same they are called homozygous. If they are different from each other they are called

heterozygous. An individual who has homozygous alleles

for a particular characteristic is described as purebred.

In addition, alleles may be either dominant or recessive. A dominant allele always shows. A recessive allele only

shows when it is on its own. Therefore, if a person

inherits both the dominant and the recessive alleles, the dominant allele will be the one expressed.

In diagrams and explanations of heredity:

Genes are represented by letters;

Genes controlling the same characteristic are given the same letter; The dominant gene is given the capital letter.

A genotype is the actual set of alleles an organism

carries. For example, you have the genotype Bb since you have the allele for brown eye color (B) and the allele

for blue eye color (b).

A phenotype is the expression of a gene. For example, since you have the genotype Bb with one dominant and one recessive allele, the dominant allele (B) will mask the recessive allele (b) and you will have the phenotype for brown eyes.

Genetic inheritance
Alleles can exist in dominant or recessive forms.

The genes in a homologous chromosome always match, but they may not control the character in the same way. For e.g. you can see from the above figure that always matches in shape but not always match in colour. This is a way of showing that one pair of alleles control one character but in different ways.

 For a particular character, an offspring may therefore inherit either: o Two dominant alleles (as shown in position 1) , one from each parent. The offspring is described as homozygous dominant. o One dominant and one recessive allele (as shown in position 2), the offspring is described as heterozygous. o Two recessive alleles, one from each parent. The offspring is described as homozygous recessive.

Check you knowledge

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What are homologous chromosomes? Describe the structure of DNA. What is s gene? What are alleles. Define the following terms; genotype, phenotype, homozygous, heterozygous, dominant, recessive

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