PATTERNS OF

INHERITANCE
by: Sr. Jeanette M. Formentera BSA-3
Patterns of Gene
Inheritance
 Genetics
is the study of genes

What is a gene? 
 A factor that controls a heritable characteristic
 Something on a chromosome
 Information stored in a segment of DNA
 Something that encodes a protein 3
 The History of Genetics
• Genetics - it is the scientific study of
inheritance
The domestication of dogs is one of the
earliest human experiences with genetics.

• Millions of years ago there were no dogs.

Today’s domestic dogs are descended from a
wolf ancestors 4
 The history of
dog domestication
is that of an ancient
partnership between
dogs (Canis lupus
familiaris) and
humans.
5
 That partnership was likely
originally based on a human need
for help with herding and
hunting, for an early alarm
system, and for a source of food
in addition to the companionship
many of us today know and love.
In return, dogs received
companionship, protection,
shelter, and a reliable food
source. But when this partnership
first occurred is still under some
6
Dog history has been
studied recently using
mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA), which
suggests that wolves
and dogs split into
different species
around 100,000 years 7
 Although mtDNA
analysis has shed
some light on the
domestication event(s)
which may have
occurred between
40,000 and 20,000
years ago, researchers
are not agreed on the
8
 The History of Genetics
Ancient people selected traits to be passed from
generation to generation.

Trait – is a characteristic that can be

passed from parent to offspring.

9
 The History of Genetics
 It has not always been understood how
traits are passed from parent to offspring.

 For many centuries scientists believed that

traits were blended in offspring, they
would later learn that this idea was
incorrect. 10
 The History of Genetics
Review:

• during cell division chromosomes are

replicated and distributed to daughter cells
during meiosis.
• The traits that are passed from parents to
offspring are in these chromosomes.
11
Gregor
Mendel
Clues to understanding inheritance
12
The Father of Genetics

Gregor
Mendel
(1822-1884)

o Mendel was an Augustian monk from Austria.

o He studied physics and botany at the
University of Vienna. 13
The Father of Genetics

Gregor
Mendel
o He worked for 12 years on his genetic experiments and
published them in the local natural history journal in 1866.
o Mendel’s results were forgotten until the early 20th century.
14
 Mendel

“
performed
experiments
concerning
the
inheritance
of seven
certain
characteristi
cs of pea 15
 Pea Plants
▪ Mendel performed experiments concerning the inheritance
of seven certain characteristics of pea plants.
Mendel’s Experiments
• He used pea plants to study
how traits were
passed from one generation
to the next.
• Mendel gathered detailed
information on
more than 20,000 pea plants
over an eight year period.
• He applied mathematics and
statistics to his
findings and found that they
did not support
the blending hypothesis. 18
 Mendel’s
Experiments
Mendel chose to work with the pea plant for several reasons:

1. The structure of the pea plant

The pea flower petals make it very easy for the pollen
from the anther from a plant
to fertilize it’s own pistil.
19
Mendel’s
Experiments

• This produced a purebred offspring.

Purebred offspring - receives the same genetic traits

from both parents.
20
Mendel’s
Experiments

• Mendel was also able to transfer pollen from one

plant to another by hand. This produced a hybrid.

• Hybrid Offspring - receives different forms of a

genetic trait from each parent.
21
Mendel’s
Experiments
Mendel chose to work with the pea plant for several reasons:
2. Presence of distinctive traits
Mendel studied several traits. Each of the traits
had two distinct forms.
(ex. pea pods are either yellow or green, there is no
intermediate) 22
Mendel’s
Experiments
Mendel chose to work with the pea plant for several reasons:

3. Rapid reproduction cycle

This allowed Mendel to repeat his experiments many times
to test his results.
23
Studying traits in
peas

Mendel studied
inheritance in peas
(Pisum sativum). He
chose peas because
they had been used
for similar studies,
are easy to grow and
Studying traits in peas

Pea flowers contain both male

and female parts,
called stamen and stigma, and
usually self-pollinate. Self-
pollination happens before the
flowers open, so progeny are
produced from a single plant.
Peas can also be cross-
pollinated by hand, simply by
opening the flower buds to
remove their pollen-
producing stamen (and prevent
self-pollination) and
dusting pollen from one plant
 Mendel’s Conclusion

•Mendel’s experiments showed that the blending

hypothesis was wrong. Mendel hypothesized that
each trait is controlled by a distinct “factor” 27
 • Mendel drew three(3) important conclusions 
(Mendel’s Three Principles)

1. Dominant vs. Recessive
• Organisms inherit two copies 
purple white
of each gene, one from each 
parent.
• In many cases, one allele is 
dominant (or expressed) while the 
other is recessive (or masked)
 • Dominant allele - form of the
gene that is expressed fully when
two different alleles are present.
purple white

• Recessive allele - form of the

gene not expressed when two
different alleles are present.
• Letters are used to represent alleles: the dominant traits is
represented by an uppercase letter (ex.Y)
•The recessive allele is represented by a lower case letter (ex. y) 30
 • Mendel drew three(3) important conclusions 
(Mendel’s Three Principles)

2. Segregation
When meiosis makes sex cells, each cell    
has only one allele
purple white

3. Independent Assortment
Each trait is passed on independent of  
other traits (creates variety!)
Ex:  pod color green and seed color yellow
 • GENOTYPE - the genetic GENES AFFECT TRAITS
make up of an organism.
The genotype includes both
genes in a pair of homologous
chromosomes.
• genotype of purebred yellow
peas is YY
• genotype of hybrid yellow
peas is Yy
• genotype of green peas is yy.

• PHENOTYPE – the outward

expression of a trait.
• phenotype for F1 generation of
peas is yellow.
32
 GENES AFFECT TRAITS

•If the two alleles of the

gene are the same they are
called homozygous.
ex. (YY, yy)
If the two alleles of the gene
are different they are called
heterozygous.
ex.(Yy) 33
Traits are inherited independently

Mendel also experimented to see what would

happen if plants with 2 or more pure-bred traits
were cross-bred. He found that each trait was
inherited independently of the other and
produced its own 3:1 ratio. This is the principle of
Independent Assortment.
34
When Gregor Mendel
published his theory of
inheritance in 1865, it
should have started a
revolution, but it would be
another 35 years before his
theory would be
rediscovered and then
accepted.

35
In 1866, Mendel published the
paper Experiments in plant
hybridization. In it, he
proposed that heredity is the
result of each parent passing
along 1 factor for every trait.
If the factor is dominant, it will
be expressed in the progeny.
If the factor is recessive, it will
not show up but will continue
to be passed along to the next
generation. Each factor works
independently from the
36
others, and they do not blend.
The science community
ignored the paper,
possibly because it was
ahead of the ideas of
heredity and variation
accepted at the time. In
the early 1900s, 3 plant
biologists finally
acknowledged Mendel’s
work. Unfortunately,
Mendel was not around to
receive the recognition as
he had died in 1884
37
Today the gene is defined in
several ways, depending
upon the nature of the
investigation. Genetic
material can be synthesized,
manipulated, and hybridized
with genetic material from
other species, but to fully
understand its functions in
the whole organism, an
understanding of Mendelian
inheritance is necessary.
As the architect of
genetic experimental
and statistical analysis,38
Thank
s!!
Any questions?

39
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