BZYCT-137

GENETICS AND
Indira Gandhi EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
National Open University
School of Sciences

VOL

1
GENETICS
BLOCK 1
HEREDITY AND PHENOTYPE 7
BLOCK 2
THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF HEREDITY 127
 GENETICS AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
Genetics goes hand in hand with evolution. All traits are inherited whenever we bring up a
trait, we should ask when that trait evolved and place in on the appropriate phylogenetic tree.
This tree not only shows when certain traits evolved, but can also be used to infer who has
them. This tree can be used to show how our genetic traits go back to the universal ancestor
that lived 3-5 billion years ago and that all of today’s genomes are product of duplication and
divergence. The evidence for the evolution can be read from our genomes.

Understanding the connection between Mendel’s principles of heredity and DNA is of

paramount importance. There are concrete examples of mutations in DNA that change
proteins which in turn, change phenotype is one of the best ways to make these connections
we now understand same of the Mendel’s traits at molecular level. Genes code for proteins
and proteins determine phenotype. The more vividly you can make this connection, the richer
will be their understanding of both genetics and evolution.

Looking at the functioning of DNA, RNA and protein in determining phenotype, students can
begin to understand that they are guardians of 3.5 billion years of evolution and this provides
motivation for taking care of our fragile planet that makes life possible.

We welcome you to the study of the first volume of this course which tells you about
Genetics. This volume consists of 2 Blocks – First block entitled “Heredity and Phenotype”
and Second block is “The Physical Basis of Heredity”. First Block comprises five units and
the second Block consists of four units, making nine units in all in first volume.

Genetics is the science of heredity that relates to the study of the structure and function of
genes and the mechanisms of their transmission of their transmission from one generation to
the next. The differences in many a characteristics among organisms are a direct result of
differences in the genes they carry. These differences have resulted due to the evolutionary
processes. Mutations – heritable changes in the genes, and recombination – the shuffling of
genes and chromosomes at meiosis are the raw materials on which selection acts favouring
a particular combination of genes for a given environment. The principles of heredity were
first recognized by Gregor Mendel in 1860s but the systematic study of this discipline began
in about 1900. And eversince the science of genetics has never stopped expanding. Its
growth, however, has been very rapid and phenomenal in the past four decades eversince
the discovery of the structure of the genetic material by Watson and Crick. One has to be
really alert and hardworking to keep pace with advances made in this branch of science. It is
generally said that scientific knowledge doubles every ten years, but as far as genetics is
concerned the doubling time is just about two years.

Modern genetics is divided into three main branches: i) transmission genetics, ii)
molecular genetics, and iii) population genetics.

i) Transmission genetics deals with the study of transmission of genes from one
generation to the next. This first branch relies mainly on the same kind of experimental
approach used by Gregor Mendel in the middle of the nineteenth century. Organisms
with different traits (different phenotypes) are mated and transmission of these traits to
the next generation is observed. Similarly, these progeny organisms can be mated with
others of the same or different phenotypes, and again the transmission of traits can be
observed. Since Mendel pioneered this approach of genetics, it is also frequently called
Mendelian or Classical genetics. And as it deals with the transmission of genes to
successive generations we also call it Transmission genetics. 3
 ii) Molecular genetics is the study of the molecular structure of genes as well as the
nature, expression and regulation of these molecules. Whereas transmission genetic
studies are mainly carried out with eukaryotic organism, viruses and bacteria are the
source of study in molecular genetics. This branch of genetics paved the way for the
development of genetic engineering and recombinant DNA studies which have far-
reaching implications in the field of agriculture and medicine.

iii) Population genetics deals with the study of behaviour of genes genes in populations.
More importantly population genetics is concerned with changes in the gene
frequencies of populations over a period of time. Processes such as mutation,
recombination, selection etc. tend to affect gene frequencies of populations. In fact
population geneticists define evolution as changes in gene frequencies.

These branches are not exclusive of one another, rather, they reinforce each other. In this
course you would find an intergration on these three branches.

This course aims at presenting the subject matter of genetics in the broader context of study
of heredity. It examines not only the inheritance of genes which affect the characters of
organisms but also the developmental processes whereby the characters are produced. The
major questions that have concerned geneticists, in the past and the present, are highlighted.
Some of the important questions that this course would address are: What is the genetic
material? How it is packaged, where is it located in a cell? How does it express itself in a
coordinated and organised manner? What are the sources of similarity and variability among
individuals of a species? What is the behaviour of genes in populations? And in the present
context, what is the relevance of genetic studies to humans and so on and so forth.

Evolutionary Biology is the discipline that describes the history of life and investigates the
processes that account for this history. Evolutionary Biology has two goals.

(i) To discover the history of life on earth i.e., to determine the (a) phylogeny of species
(b) of their origin and extinction (c) rate and course of change in their characteristics.

(ii) To understand the causal processes of evolution i.e., to understand (a) origin of
hereditary variations (b) how mutation natural selection and genetic drift have given
rise to other characteristics (c) how populations become different species.

Second Volume entitled “Evolutionary Biology” consists of seven units in two blocks.

Evolution as defined by Darwin is descent with modification. But the definition of evolution
has undergone changes after the principles and mechanisms of inheritance became better
understood. Today, the Darwinian concept of natural selection is fully explained in terms of
gene frequencies and the changes they undergo from one generation to the next. Although
Darwin had no knowledge of genetics, he could predict that variability in populations is
responsible for the origin of adaptations. Today we know that variability is generated
continuously in populations by mutations and further enhanced by genetic recombinations.
These processes, together with the action of natural selection, bring about changes in gene
frequencies in populations.

Objectives
After studying this course on Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, you should be able to:

• interpret and explain the results of mono-, di- and tri-hybrid crosses based on Mendel’s
4 laws of inheritance,
• recoginse and describe giving examples the extensions and modifications of Mendelian
genetic analysis,

• illustrate and explain the concepts of linkage, crossing-over and genetic mapping,

• discuss extra-nuclear genetic systems present in chloroplast and mitochnodria of

eukaryotic cell and their cooperation with nuclear genetic system,

• describe the techniques employed to study the various aspects of human

chromosomes,

• describe the normal human chromosome at morphological as well as molecular level,

• recognise and explain the various kinds of structural chromosomal anomalies in

humans and their resultant effects,

• recognise and explain the different forms of numerical chromosomal anomalies in

humans and their resultant effects,

• discuss the nature and structure of genetic material,

• describe the mechanisms of recombination and complementation in a bacteriophage,

• describe the different types of mutations that arise in the genetic material and the rates
at which they occur,

• distinguish between the spontaneous and induced mutations and list the various
mutagenic agents that would induce mutations,

• present a brief history of the origin and development of evolutionary thought from the
time of early Greek philosophers to the present,

• interpret the evolution of adaptations through natural selection based on the Darwinian
tenets,

• describe the sources of heritable variations and the manifestation of variability, and

• discuss the characteristics of different kinds of selective forces.

5
 BZYCT-137
GENETICS AND
Indira Gandhi EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
National Open University
School of Sciences

Block

1
HEREDITY AND PHENOTYPE
UNIT 1
Introduction to Genetics 11
UNIT 2
Extension and Modifications of Mendelian Genetic
Analysis-I 46
UNIT 3
Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping 71
UNIT 4
Extra-Nuclear Inheritance 106
Course Design Committee
Prof. M.S. Nathawat Dr. Ranjana Saxena
Former Director, School of Sciences Associate Professor in Zoology
IGNOU, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068 Dyal Singh College, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003
Prof. S. S. Hasan (Retd.) Prof. Sarita Sachdeva
School of Sciences, IGNOU Head, Department of Biotechnology
Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068 Manav Rachna International Institute
Prof. Jaswant Sokhi (Retd.) of Research and Studies, Faridabad, Haryana-121004
School of Sciences, IGNOU Prof. Neera Kapoor
Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068 School of Sciences, IGNOU
Dr. A.K. Bali Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068
Associate Professor in Zoology
Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences Prof. Amrita Nigam
Sector 2A, Dwarka, New Delhi-110075 School of Sciences, IGNOU
Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068
Dr. S.K. Sagar
Associate Professor in Zoology Dr. Nisha
Swami Shraddhanand College, Alipur Village Consultant, School of Sciences
University of Delhi, Delhi- 110036 IGNOU, New Delhi-110068
Dr. H.S. Pawar
Scientist D, NIMR
Sector 8, Dwarka, New Delhi-110077

Block Preparation Team

Dr. A.K. Bali Dr. S.K. Sagar
Associate Professor in Zoology Associate Professor in Zoology
Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences Swami Shraddhanand College, Alipur Village,
Sector 2A, Dwarka, New Delhi-110075 (Unit 1) University of Delhi, Delhi- 110036 (Unit 4)
Prof. Abhilasha Shourie School of Sciences
Department of Biotechnology Prof. Neera Kapoor (Units 1 to 4)
Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Prof. S.S. Hasan (Units 1 and 4)
Studies, Faridabad, Haryana-121004 (Unit 2) Dr. Nisha (Units 2 and 3)
Dr. Nidhi Didwania
Associate Professor, Department of Biotechnology
Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and
Studies, Faridabad, Haryana-121004 (Unit 3)

Course Coordinator : Prof. Neera Kapoor

Course Editor : Prof. P.C. Joshi
Professor & Head, Department of Zoology
Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar
Uttarakhand-249404
Production
Mr. Hemant Kumar
SO (P), MPDD, IGNOU

Acknowledgement:
• Prof. Neera Kapoor and Mr. Ajit Kumar, Suggestions for figures and Cover Design.
• Mr. Vikas Kumar, JAT for word processing and CRC preparation.
February, 2021
Indira Gandhi National Open University, 2021
ISBN : 978-93-89969-15-3
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other
means, without permission in writing from Indira Gandhi National Open University.
Further information on Indira Gandhi National Open University courses may be obtained from the
University’s office at Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110 068 or IGNOU website www.ignou.ac.in.
Printed and published on behalf of Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi by the
Registrar, MPDD, IGNOU.
Printed at :
 BLOCK 1: HEREDITY AND PHENOTYPE
This is the first block of the course that contains four units dealing with the basic concepts of
transmission of genetic material. Unit 1 describes the classic work of Gregor Mendel and the
basic principles of Mendelian genetics that resulted from his work. A thorough understanding
of these principles is necessary for dealing with more complex phenomenon presented later.
Also introduced in this unit are problem solving and data analysis as standard methods in
genetic study.

Mendelian analysis cannot be applied to all situations. The exceptions to, and the extensions
of Mendelian analysis, such as the existence of multiple alleles, lethal genes, modification of
dominance relationships, epistasis, sex linkage and many others are discussed in Unit 2.

Unit 3 is about the classical genetic topic of linkage, crossing-over and genetic mapping. We
deal with questions such as what is linkage and recombination? What are the principles of
gene mapping? And how the order and the distance between genes in eukaryotic
chromosomes is determined.

In Unit 4 of this block, we explain the non-mendelian mode of inheritance or more precisely
the extranuclear inheritance. We begin with the early experiments that indicated the
presence of genetic determinants outside the nucleus, chloroplast and mitochondria.
Thereafter, the characteristics of chloroplast and mitochondrial genome and associated
protein synthesising machinery are discussed. These two extranuclear genomes have been
mapped in a few species. In the last section of the unit, we have discussed the interaction
between genomes-nuclear and chloroplast and nuclear and mitochondria, suggesting the
possible origin of these organelles.

Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to:

• interpret and explain the results of mono-, di- and tri-hybrid crosses based on Mendel’s
laws of inheritance,

• recoginse and describe giving examples the extensions and modifications of Mendelian
genetic analysis,

• illustrate and explain the concepts of linkage, crossing-over and genetic mapping, and

• discuss extra-nuclear genetic systems present in chloroplast and mitochnodria of

eukaryotic cell and their cooperation with nuclear genetic system.

9
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics

UNIT 1

INTRODUCTION TO
GENETICS

Structure
1.4 Mendel’s Classical
1.1 Introduction
Experiments with Pea
Objectives
Choice of material
1.2 Development of Genetics – A
Monohybrid Crosses and
Historical Perspective
Mendel’s Law of Segregation
Birth of Genetics
Dihybrid Crosses and Mendel’s
Growth of Genetics : From Law of Independent Assortment
Mendel to Genetic Engineering
Trihybrid Crosses
1.3 Some Basic Genetic
1.5 Summary
Terminology
1.6 Terminal Questions
Gene
1.7 Answers
Genes and Alleles

Homozygous and Heterozygous

Phenotype and Genotype

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Genetics is the study of heredity. It is an ancient discipline. Atleast 4000 years
ago, in Sumeria, Egypt and other parts of the world, farmers recognised that
they could improve their crops and their animals by selective breeding. Their
knowledge was based on the experience and they recognised that many
features of plants and animals were passed on from generation to generation.
Furthermore, they were aware that desirable traits – such as size, speed and
weight of animals could sometimes be combined by controlling mating, and
that in plants, crop yield and resistance to arid conditions could be combined
by cross pollination, The ancient breeding programmes were not based on
experimental studies because nothing was known of genes or any of the
principles of heredity. 11
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
In this first unit of the course, we begin with a brief outline of the history of
development of modern genetics and then we would discuss Mendel's laws:
law of segregation and independent assortment and the molecular basis of
inheritance.

Objectives
After studying this unit you would be able to:

describe the historical developments and the landmarks in genetics,

outline the contributions of Mendel to the science of genetics,

define and use correctly the terms gene, allele, locus, genotype,
phenotype, dominance, recessiveness, homozygous, heterozygous
and testcross,

describe Mendel's breeding experiments,

state and explain Mendel's laws of inheritance, and

discuss the molecular basis of inheritance.

1.2 DEVELOPMENT OF GENETICS – A

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
As systematic study of genetics began, answers were sought to questions
such as i) why are we like our parents? ii) why do organisms belonging to a
group have an astonishing similarity to each other? The first geneticists were
the persons who observed that "like begets like" and then used this basic
observation to improve their strains. Domestication of animals like dogs, cats
and cattle, was started when humans learnt how to control the matings of
these species. Once animals were tamed, people could breed more of those
which they found most useful and the control of lineage remained with
humans. Cultivation of crops required that seeds of one generation were
saved to produce the next generation. Therefore, the seeds that were saved
were from the largest and the healthiest plants.

Next, scientists started seeking answers to the question as to why we are like
our parents but are also different from them in many respects. It was only after
the work of Mendel was published in 1860s that answers to these questions
started to emerge.

1.2.1 Birth of Genetics

Modern genetics originated with Gregor Mendel's (Fig. 1.1) work. It is based
on this paper entitled “Experiments in Plant Hybridisation” published in 1866 in
the Proceedings of the Society of Natural History in Brno. Mendel carried out
detailed investigations of inheritance in garden pea. He performed elaborate
plant hybridisation experiments and kept accurate pedigree records of his
results (Fig. 1.2). With the data obtained, he was able to formulate the basic
12 principles of inheritance.
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics
Mendel proposed the concept of hereditary units. According to him equal
number of these units (factors) inherited from each parent determined the
observable characters of the offspring. This was the first conceptualisation of
what is now referred to as particulate inheritance. Characteristics
themselves are not inherited but the particles, units or factors that determine
or control the observable traits are transmitted from parents to offspring. The
appearance of the character in the offspring is determined by the particular
combination of factors inherited from the two parents. This was the beginning
of the concept of a gene, which is the modern term for the hereditary units
or particles originally described by Mendel.

Mendel’s work was not appreciated by the rest of the scientific community until
1900, when three botanists Carl Correns in Germany, Hugo de Varies in the
Netherlands and Erich von Tschermak in Austria, rediscovered his work after
each had independently reached similar conclusions. They all found Mendel's
report while scanning the literature for related work and cited it in their own
publications. William Bateson (Fig. 1.3), an English scientist, coined the term
“genetics” in 1905 for this developing science. The term was derived from
Greek word which means “to, generate”. Many consider Bateson as the real
founder of genetics as he was the first to have Mendel’s papers translated into
English and the first one to show that Mendel’s theory was also applicable to
animals.

Fig. 1.1: Gregor Johaan Mendel – the father of the Science of Modern Genetics.
Born – 22 July, 1822 in Czechoslovakia. Died – 6 January, 1884 Brno
Czechoslovakia. He was born in a small village and was the only son of
a peasant family. Mendel had an insatiable curiosity about the natural
and the physical world and was keenly interested in the diversity of
living beings. His parents could not afford his higher education. He
joined a monastery of St. Thomas, which was at that time in Austria and
now in Czechoslovakia. His interest in Botany began early in life, as
farming and the development of new varieties of apples were his
family’s chief occupation. His early interest was further stimulated by
his formal education which centred round mathematics, physics,
botany and zoology. The monastery provided him a stimulating
environment, as it was a centre of cultural, intellectual and religious life,
and its members and visitors included many notable scholars and
scientists of that period. In 1851, he joined the University of Vienna and
upon completing his course he returned to his teaching responsibilities
at Brno. His experiments in plant hybridization were carried out in the
monastery garden for several years beginning from 1826. Mendel
combined his talents, background and interests in a series of
experiments with garden peas. His experiments are now recognized as
classic example of carefully planned and executed scientific research. 13
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
1.2.2 Growth of Genetics: From Mendel to Genetic
Engineering
Genetics has come a long way and at present is a mature and dynamic
science. The science of genetics was buiIt on the foundation laid by Mendel
but it owes its present stature to the contributions of a large number of
scientists. In fact, the history and development of genetics is a subject worthy
of study. You will be studying about the important contributions of various
researchers in different units of this course. Nevertheless, a list of salient
developments/contributions in the field has been compiled in Table 1.1 to give
you some idea of their chronology.

Fig. 1.2: Monastery garden where Mendel’s experiments on peas were carried
out.

Table 1.1: The Genetics time Line (Modified from Gardner et al., 1991).

1865 Mendel read his paper to the Brunn Society for

Natural History
1866 Mendel his paper published in the Proceedings
of the Brunn Society for Natural History
1868 Miescher first study of DNA
1900 De Vries, Correns, and Mendel’s work discovered
Tschermak
1902 Boveri & Sutton demonstrated the presence of paired
chromosomes (homologs) in diploid
species
1905 Bateson named the science genetics
1908 Hardy & Weinberg formulated the “Hardy Weinberg Law”
relating genotypic frequencies to gene
frequencies in randomly mating
populations
1909 Johannsen introduced the term gene
1909 Garrod book on Inborn Errors of Metabolism
14
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics
1910 Morgan established the sex-linked inheritance
of white eyes in Drosophila
melanogaster (Nobel Prize 1933)
1911 Morgan postulated the chromosomal basis of
linkage
1913 Sturtevant construction of a genetic map
1927 Muller reported the use of the CIB technique
to demonstrate that X-rays are
mutagenic (Nobel Prize, 1946)
1928 Griffith discovery of transformation in
Diplococcus pneumonia
1931 Creighton & McClintock demonstrated that genetic
recombination is correlated with the
exchange of morphological markers on
chromosomes
1940 Oliver demonstration of recombination within
the lozenge functional unit in
Drosophila
1941 Beadle and Tatum one gene one enzyme concept (Noble
Prize 1958)
1944 Avery, MacLeod & demonstrated that the pneumococcal
McCarty “transforming principle” is DNA
1946 Lederberg & Tatum discovered conjugation in bacteria
(Nobel Prize 1958)
1950 McClintock first to present a paper on
“Transposable elements” in Maize
(Nobel Prize 1983)
1952 Hershey & Chase demonstrated that the genetic material
of bacteriophage T2 is DNA (Nobel
Prize 1969)
1952 Zinder & Lederberg discovered the phage-mediated
transduction in bacteria
1953 Watson & Crick worked out the double-helix structure of
DNA using the X-ray diffraction data of
Wilkins and the base compostion data
of Chargaff (Nobel Prize 1962)
1955 Benzer first to present a paper on the fine
structure of the Phage T4 rII locus
1956 Tjio & Levan established that the normal diploid
chromosome number in human is 46

1957 Fraenkel-Conrat & Singer demonstrated that the genetic

information of tobacco mosaic virus is
stored in RNA
15
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
1958 Meselson & Stahl demonstrated that DNA replication is
semi-conservative

1958 Kornberg isolated DNA polymerase I from E. Coil

(Nobel Prize 1959)

1959 Ochoa discovered RNA polymerase (Nobel

Prize 1959)

1961 Jacob & Monod proposed the “Operon Model” for

regulating gene expression (Noble
Prize 1965)

1964 Yanofsky & colleagues; established colinearity between

Brenner & colleagues polypeptide products

1964 Temin proposed the DNA provirus from RNA

tumour viruses (Nobel Prize 1975)

1965 Holley worked out the first complete

nucleotide sequence of a tRNA (Nobel
Prize 1968)

1966 Nirenberg, Khorana established the complete genetic code

&coworkers (Nobel Prize 1968)

1970 Nathans & Smith isolated the first restriction

endonuclease (Nobel Prize 1978)

1970 Baltimore identified reverse transcripatase of

RNA tumour viruses (Nobel Prize 1975)

1972 Berg produced first recombinant DNA (Nobel

Prize 1980)

1976 Bishop & Varmus demonstrated the protooncogene to

oncogene relationship (Nobel Prize
1989)

1976 Hozumi & Tonigawa demonstrated somatic rearrangements

of gene encoding antibodies

1977 Breathnach, Mandel & demonstrated the presence of introns

Chambon; Jeffreys & in eukaryotic genes
Flavell

1977 Maxam & Gilbert; Sanger, description of the DNA sequencing

Nicklen & Coulson techniques

1977 Sanger & colleagues worked out the complete 5387

nucleotide sequence of phage φX174

1978 Three different discovered “splicing” of adenovirus

laboratories RNAs

1982 Sanger & colleagues worked out the complete 48,502

nucleotide-pair sequence of phage
lambda
16
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics
1983 Cech & Altman established the existence of catalytic
RNAs (Noble Prize 1989)

1985 Jeffery DNA finger-printing

1988 Watson established the existence of catalytic
RNAs (Nobel Prize 1989)

1989 NIH Recombinant DNA recommended approval of first-human

Advisory Committee “gene transplant” experiment

1989 Tsui, Collins & colleagues coloned the “cystic fibrosis gene”
1990 Saiki Polymerase chain reaction

1993 R. Roberts, P. Sharp, K. RNA processing of split genes (Nobel

Prize 1993)

1993 Mullis and M. Smith Development of polymerase chain

reaction (PCR) and site-directed
mutagenesis (SDM)

1995 E. B. Lewis, C. Nusslein- Genetic control of early development of

Volhard and E. Wieschaus Drosophila (Nobel Prize 1995)

1997 S. Prusiner Prions-a new biological principle of

infection (Nobel Prize 1997)

1999 G. Blobel Genetically encoded amino acid

sequences in proteins that guide their
cellular transport (Nobel Prize 1999)

2001 L. Hartwell, T. Hunt and P. Genes and regulatory molecules

Nurse controlling the cell cycle (Nobel Prize
2001)

2002 S. Brenner, H.R. Horvitz Genetic regulation of organ

and J.E. Sulston development and programmed cell
death (Nobel Prize 2002)

2006 A.Z. Fire and C.C. Mello RNA interference (RNAi) (Nobel Prize
2006)

2006 R. Kornberg Molecular basis of eukaryotic

transcription (Nobel Prize 2006)

2007 M.R. Capecchi, M.J. Development of gene-targeting

Evans and O. Smithies technology essential to the creation of
knockout mice serving as animal
models of human disease (Nobel Prize
2007)

2009 E.H. Blackburn, C.W. The nature and replication of the DNA
Greider and J.W. Szostak of telomeres, and the discovery of the
telomere-replenishing ribonucleoprotein
enzyme telomerase (Nobel Prize 2009)

The above table, however, is not complete as we intended to make it concise. 17

Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
Presently, new information is accumulating at an unprecedented rate. Most of
the important contributions were made between 1970s and 1990s. The next
few years are going to be exciting as many scientists are working out details of
the molecular mechanisms responsible for differentiation in eukaryotes that
include humans as well. Several challenging areas in the field are open for
research, and perhaps one day we would be able to understand the molecular
basis of complex phenomena like learning, memory, cancer and aging.

1.3 SOME BASIC GENETIC TERMINOLOGY

Before we move on to discuss Mendel's experiments with pea in detail and the
laws of inheritance formulated by him, let us first understand some basic
genetic terminology.

1.3.1 Gene
You have studied that Mendel proposed the concept of hereditary units, which
were later on identified as genes. We shall elaborate on it further. Let us
consider different traits such as flower colour, seed shape or height in plants,
each of these characters is controlled by a different gene.

1.3.2 Genes and Alleles

The inheritance of any character can be studied only when there are two
contrasting conditions, such as yellow versus green seed colour (as observed
by Mendel in peas), normal pigmentation versus absence of pigmentation
(albinism) in humans and other animals, and brown versus black coat colour in
guinea pigs. An individual expresses one or the other, but not both contrasting
conditions at the same time. Genes that govern variations of the same
characteristic and that occupy corresponding loci on homologous
chromosomes are termed alleles (Fig. 1.3).

Geneticists use the term allele to emphasise that there are two or more
alternative forms of a gene that can occur at corresponding specific loci.
The possible variants of a gene at any given locus are known as alleles, each
of which is assigned a single letter (or a group of letters) as its symbol. In the
Mendel’s particulate example below, we shall consider the trait – height of pea plant. Tall forms are
hereditary elements denoted by T and the short ones are denoted by t. T and t are alleles of the
or factors are called same gene. Since they are present in pairs they are represented as TT, tt or
genes. Tt.

It is customary to indicate a dominant allele with a capital letter and a

recessive allele with a lower case letter. The choice of the letter or letters
themselves is generally determined by the first allelic variant in a particular
locus. For example, Mendel studied the alleles that govern seed colour –
yellow versus green. The allele that is responsible for the yellow colour of the
seed is designated as Y, and the allele for the green colour y. Because
discovery of the yellow allele made identification of this locus possible, we
commonly refer to the locus as the yellow locus, although pea seeds are most
commonly green. The term locus is used to designate not only a location on a
18 chromosome but also a kind of “generic” gene controlling a particular kind of
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics
characteristic; thus Y (yellow) and y (green) represent a specific pair of alleles
of a locus involved in determining seed colour in peas. To prevent confusion,
the dominant allele is always designated first and the recessive allele second
(Yy, never yY). Geneticists use the term gene sometimes to specify a locus
and sometimes to specify one of the allelic variants at that locus. Usually the
meaning is clear from the context.

Fig. 1.3: Homologous chromosomes and alleles.

There are many genes within each chromosome, each generally different from
the other and each controlling the inheritance of one or more characteristic(s).
The members of a homologous pair of chromosome have similar set of alleles
arranged in the same order. The regularity of the mitotic process ensures that 19
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
each diploid daughter cell receives a pair of each chromosome and therefore a
pair of each gene. As the chromosomes separate during meiosis, and become
associated with new partners at the time of fertilisation, the alleles also
separate and associate with new partners. The entire concept of Mendelian
Genetics depends on these simple facts.

1.3.3 Homozygous and Heterozygous

Homozygous: Same In an individual two identical alleles may exist for a given character and,
factor. hence, the individual is referred to as Homozygous (e.g. AA and aa). If
Heterozygous:Differ there are two non-identical or different alleles for a given character, the
ent factors. individual is referred to as heterozygous (e.g. Aa).

Let us examine a situation where both the parents are homozygous. The male
is homozygous recessive aa, and female is homozygous dominant AA. During
meiosis in the male the two ‘a’ alleles separate from each other so that each
sperm has only a single ‘a’ allele. Similarly, in the female parent each egg has
one ‘A’ allele. The fertilisation of the ‘A’ egg by ‘a’ sperm results in a
Physical appearance: heterozygous animal with ‘Aa’.
Phenotype.
The form of gene which occurs in an individual in nature is called the ‘wild
Genetic constitution:
Genotype. type’ while a ‘mutant type’ is the one in which the genetic material is somewhat
altered. Mutants arise due to various reasons.

The alleles which express themselves in both homozygous and heterozygous

conditions are known as the dominant alleles. For example, TT represents
tallness (homozygous). The individuals having the alleles TT, and Tt would be
tall as T is a dominant allele and it can express itself in both homozygous and
heterozygous conditions.

Some alleles express themselves only in homozygous condition and are

referred to as recessive alleles. In the height characteristic, dwarfness can be
seen in individuals that have the alleles ‘tt’, i.e., recessive alleles are
expressed in homozygous condition only.

1.3.4 Phenotype and Genotype

From the above subsection it is clear that some alleles are dominant while
others are recessive. This indicates that we cannot always deduce the alleles
present in an organism by just looking at it. The phenotype is the term used to
specify the appearance of an individual in a given environment with respect to
a certain inherited trait. The genetic constitution of that organism, most often
expressed in symbols, is its genotype.

Using the same example as above let us understand the concepts of

phenotype and genotype. If the female parent has the genotype TT
(homozygous, dominant) can you guess the phenotype? Yes! It is Tall. If the
male parent is homozygous recessive ‘tt’ can you tell what is its phenotype?
The answer is dwarf. If these two parents are crossed then what would be the
genotype and phenotype of the offspring? The genotype would be ‘Tt’ and
20 phenotype would be tall.
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics
Similarly, an individual has alleles that govern hair colour. These specific
alleles constitute the individual's genotype for hair colour. The actual hair
colour that the individual exhibits is its phenotype (black, brown, red, blonde
etc.). The crux of the above discussion is that the genetic constitution of an
individual is referred to as its genotype and the expression of these
genes as its phenotype.
Phenotype should be used in the broadest possible sense. Phenotype
commonly refers to visible characteristics such as size, shape, colour of the
parts of an organism, height, weight, length of limbs and so on. But other less
obvious characteristics also comprise the phenotype: behavioural traits
(twitches, yawns, posture, smiles per hour), physiology (heart rate, blood
pressure, level of basal metabolism) and biochemical characteristics
(cholesterol level, presence or absence of particular enzymes, blood type). In
fact, any trait of an organism which can be described and/or measured is the
phenotype of that character.
We hope that you have clearly understood the above basic terms. You would
learn about many more terms at relevant places in the following units.

SAQ 1
From the list of the items given below, select all those which are: i) phenotype,
ii) genotype, iii) homozygous, dominant, iv) homozygous, recessive, and v)
heterozygous. Write your answers in the space provided.
a) Rr ……………..
b) TT ……………..
c) Tt ……………..
d) tall ……………..
e) RR ……………..
f) Yy ……………..
g) rr ……………..
h) terminal flower ……………..
i) tt ……………..

SAQ 2
Make appropriate matches of the mentioned in column A with the explanation
in column B. Write your answers in the boxes.
A B
a) Genes ( ) i) any character of an organism that
can be measured or described
b) Phenotype ( ) ii) different alleles for specific traits on
homologous chromosomes
c) Chromosomes ( ) iii) contain hereditary units
d) Heterozygote ( ) iv) once called the inheritance “factors”
by Mendel

21
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
1.4 MENDEL’S CLASSICAL EXPERIMENTS WITH
PEA
Mendel’s studies provide an outstanding example of good scientific technique.
He chose research material well suited for the study of the problem at hand,
designed his experiments carefully, collected large amount of data and used
mathematical analysis to show that the results were consistent with his
explanatory hypothesis.

1.4.1 Choice of Material

Before Mendel, several investigators carried out research work to understand
the principles of inheritance, but they failed to reach meaningful conclusions
because of the unsuitability of the system they were studying. The garden pea
with which Mendel worked has several suitable features. The foremost were
that these plants were cheap, easy to obtain, required little space, had shorter
generation time, produced many offspring and could be crossed easily. The
pea flowers are bisexual and are usually self-fertilised, that is, the ovule
(female gamete) is fertilised by pollen(male gamete) from the same flower as
both the male and female parts of the flower are closed in a petal box or keel
(Fig. 1.4). Pollen from another plant can be experimentally introduced to the
stigma of a flower to bring about cross-pollination.

Fig. 1.4: A pea flower that is partially cut to show the reproductive parts.

Cross-pollination can be encouraged experimentally either by removing

stamens from female parent and placing pollen from another variety on the
stigma of its flowers (Fig. 1.5a), or by placing the pollen from the male parent
on the stigma of a different plant, whose stamens have been removed (Fig.
1.5b). Therefore, with the common pea plant, the geneticists can perform
crosses in the way they choose and can easily establish lineage or pedigree of
22 each plant in a particular cross.
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics

(a) (b)

Fig. 1.5: Cross pollination in pea. In a) the anthers are removed in the purple
flowers to prevent self-pollination. Similarly, b) anthers are removed in
the white flowers and it is used for cross-pollination.
The pea plants varied with respect to a number of characteristics such as
plant height, seed texture, used colour and flowers colour. Such a variation is
essential if anything at all is to be learnt about the inheritance of any
character. If, for example, all pea plants were of the same height and had the
same flowers colour generation after generation, information would be gained
from following plant height and flower colour in genetic studies. A
characteristic must have alternative traits or variant forms that can be followed
if insight is to be gained regarding the inheritance pattern.
We have just discussed Mendel’s choice of material for experimentation. You
will find an explanation of Mendel’s experiments and how he deduced the
laws of inheritance from them in the following sections.

1.4.2 Monohybrid Crosses and Mendel’s Law of

Segregation
Before we discuss Mendel’s experiment let us clarify the terminology
encountered in breeding experiments. The Parental generation is called the P
or P1 generation. The progeny produced from the mating of individuals in the
parental generation is called the first filial generation or F1. The subsequent
generation produced by breeding of the F1 offspring is termed the F2
generation. Selfing the offspring of each generation results in F3, F4, F5
generation and so on.
Mendel’s Experiments and Results

Mendel undertook the study of seven characters of pea plant and their variant
forms as shown in Figure 1.6. Each trait was studied individually such as tall
versus dwarf, red flower colour versus white, yellow seeds versus green and
so on. He performed monohybrid crosses – crosses in which only one pair of
contrasting or alternative trait is involved. A cross is a mating between two
individuals leading to the fusion of gametes. For example, to study the
inheritance pattern of height, he crossed true breeding tall plants with dwarf
plants. True breeding lines are those plants which produce progeny exactly 23
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
like themselves when allowed to self pollinate normally. Thus, he obtained
true breeding tall (TT) and dwarf (tt) plants. Using these true monohybrid
crosses, homozygous tall and dwarf plants (P1 generation) were crossed to
give offspring (F1) which were all tall (Fig. 1.7). The same results were
obtained whether he used the tall plant as male or female parent, i.e.,

Tall female (♀) × male (♂) ------- All offspring tall

Dwarf female (♀) × tall male (♂) ------- All offspring tall

Such a cross is also called a reciprocal cross.

Fig. 1.6: The seven characteristics (a-g) in pea plant studied by Mendel. Each
24 character has two well defined phenotypes that are easily recognized.
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics

Fig. 1.7: Monohybrid cross in the pea plant followed through three generation.
The results of the reciprocal cross i.e., dwarf × tall are identical.

Since a cross was made between a pure breeding tall and pure breeding
dwarf parent, Mendel surmised that these F1 tall individuals were not the same
as the P1 tall parent because they had alleles from the dwarf parent as well.
He allowed these F1 individuals to self pollinate and studied the F2 generation
(Fig. 1.7 again). In one cross he actually obtained 787 tall and 277 short
offspring. The ratio comes out to be 3:1. He further self pollinated (selfed) the
offspring and found that the short plants continued to produce only short one
(Fig. 1.7). On the other hand the tall plants were of two types: approximately
one third of them produced only tall offspring upon self fertilisation; the
remaining two thirds gave rise to both tall and short, again a ratio of
approximately 3:1. 25
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
Using the same quantitative approach Mendel analysed the behavior of the six
other pairs of traits. The results of such experiments were very similar to the
ones obtained with reference to the height of the plant (Table 1.2).

Table 1.2: A Summary of Mendel’s Results from the Seven Different

Monohybrid crosses (modified from Ayala, F.J. and Kiger, J.A.,
1984).

Character The Number of F2 Individuals

Phenotype
of F1 Dominant Recessive Total
Individuals

Seeds: smooth versus wrinkled All smooth 5474 1850 7324

Seeds: yellow versus green All yellow 6022 2001 8023

Flowers: purple versus white All purple 705 224 929

Flowers: axial versus terminal All axial 651 207 858

Pods: inflated versus pinched All inflated 882 299 1181

Pods: green versus yellow All green 428 152 580

Stem: tall versus short All tall 787 277 1064

Total or average 14,949 5,010 19,959

Mendel’s Explanation and Derivation of law of Segregation

Mendel questioned as to how a trait present in the P1 generation could

disappear in the F1 and then reappear with full expression in the F2
generation. Further, the F1 progeny resembled only one of the parents in their
phenotype and did not breed true. The F1 progeny possessed the potential to
produce F2 progeny that resembled the parents of P1 generation. Mendel
concluded that each one of the alternate traits, the tallness and the dwarfness,
was determined by a particulate factor. He reasoned that these factors which
were transmitted from parents to progeny through the gemetes, carried
hereditary information. At present these factors are known as Genes. Since
Mendel was examining pairs of contrasting traits each factor was considered
to exist in alternate forms (which are known as alleles). Each of these
alternate factors or alleles specifies a trait. For example, for the gene that
controls the height of pea plant, there is one form or allele that results in the
production of a tall plant and another allele that results in dwarf plant.

Mendel reasoned further that for pure breeding strains of the peas both egg
and pollen must have carried or transmitted forms of the factor. Since both
traits were seen in the F2 whereas only one appeared in the F1, each individual
must have contained both factors, one for each of the alternate traits.
Furthermore, since only one of the characters was seen in the F1’s, the
expression of the other trait must somehow have been masked by the other
factor, a feature called dominance. For the tall × dwarf cross the F1 plants
were all tall. Thus, the allele for tallness is dominant to the allele for
dwarfness. Conversely dwarfness is said to be recessive to tallness. Similar
conclusions can be made for the other six pairs of characters. The dominant
26 and recessive forms for each pair of traits are already indicated in Table 1.2.
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics
We can understand the crosses more easily if we use symbols instead of
pictures or Figures (Fig.1.7) for the alleles. In a cross between tall and dwarf
plants, symbol T denotes the factor for tallness and the symbol t for
dwarfness. You already know the convention that the dominant allele is
denoted by the capital letters and the recessive allele is denoted by
lowercase or small letters. Using these symbols we can depict the cross as
shown in Figure. 1.8.

Since each parent is true breeding and each contains two copies of the
same allele, thus, the genotype of the parental plant grown from the tall
seeds is ‘TT’ and that of the dwarf plant is ‘tt’. You may recall that the true-
breeding individuals always carry a pair of same alleles, that is, they are
homozygous genotypes.

Fig. 1.8: Monohybrid cross of tall and dwarf pea plants. The results of the
reciprocal cross are the same. Compare with Figure 1.8. 27
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
When these plants produce gametes by meiosis, each gamete contains only
one copy of the gene (i.e., one allele), the plants from tall parents produce T-
bearing gametes, and the dwarf plants produce t-bearing gametes. When
these gametes fuse during the process of fertilization, the resulting zygote has
both T and t factors, i.e., a genotype ‘Tt’ (Fig. 1.8). What are such plants that
have two different alleles for a specific trait known as? Yes, it is heterozygous.
Because of the dominance of the ‘T’ allele all the plants developed from the F1
zygotes are phenotypically tall.

The plants derived from the F1 generation differ from the tall parent in that they
produce two types of gametes in equal numbers: T – and t – bearing. All the
possible F1 gamete combinations are represented in the matrix in Figure 1.8
called as a Punnett square after its originator R. Punnett. These gametic
fusions/combinations give rise to the zygotes that produce the F2 generation.

Three types of zygotes are produced : TT, Tt and tt. The relative proportion of
these zygotes is 1:2:1 respectively, and the F2 generation exhibits a
phenotypic ratio of 3:1 (3 tall, 1 dwarf).

The results are the same for crosses involving the other six character pairs.

The Law of Segregation

Based on the results of the monohybrid cross, Mendel proposed his first law,
known as the law of segregation. It states that the members of a gene pair
(alleles) segregate (separate) from each other during the formation of
gametes. As a result, half the gametes carry one allele and the other half carry
the alternate allele. The progeny are produced by the random combination of
gametes from the two parents. In proposing the law of segregation, Mendel
clearly differentiated between the factors (genes) that determined the traits
(the genotype) and the traits themselves (the phenotype). From modern
perspective, this means that at the gene level the members of a pair of alleles
of a gene on a chromosome, segregate during meiosis, so that any offspring
receives only one member of the pair from each parent. This gene segregation
parallels the separation of members of pairs of homologous chromosomes at
anaphase I in meiosis.

To sum up, Mendel’s first law states that the members of a gene pair (allele)
segregate (separate) from each other while forming gametes; half the gametes
carry one allele, and the other half carry the other allele.

Representing Crosses Using a Branch Diagram or Forked-line Method

The use of Punnett square to consider the pairing of all possible gametic types
from the two parents (Fig. 1.9) is an acceptable way of predicting the ratios of
genotypes in the next generation. There is, however, another method – known
as the branch diagram or the forked-line method for representing the crosses.
We require the application of our mathematical knowledge here.

Do you remember the basic principles of probability? If not, for your ready
28 reference some basics of probability are given in Box 1.1.
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics

Fig. 1.9: Representing the cross as shown in Fig. 1.8 and 1.9 by a branch
diagram method. This method helps in calculating the ratios of
phenotypes of the F2 generation in an easy way.

The F1 plants have the genotype ‘Tt’. Both eggs and pollen are produced in
the flowers of the plants grown from these seeds. In the meiotic process an
equal number of T and t gametes are expected to be produced so we can say
that half the gametes are ‘T’ and the other half are ‘t’. Thus, 1 2 is the
predicted frequency of these two types but just as tossing a coin many times
does not always give exactly half heads and half tails, the gametic frequency
may not be exactly realised. However, more the number of chances (e.g.,
tosses) the more likely you will obtain the true frequency.

From the rules of probability the relative expected frequencies of the three
possible genotypes in the F2 generation can be predicted. To produce a TT
plant, an egg with T must fuse with a pollen grain carrying T. The frequency of
T carrying eggs is and 1 2 and the same holds good for the pollen grains also.
Therefore, the relative expected proportion of ‘TT’ plants in the F2
1 2 × 1 2 = 1 4 . A similar proportion is expected for dwarf or ‘tt’ progeny.

What about the Tt progeny? Again the frequency of ‘T’ in one gametic type is
1 2 and the frequency of t in the other gametic type is also 1 2 . The first
involves the fusion of an egg with T and a pollen with t, and the second
involves the fusion of an egg with t and a pollen with T. Applying the product
rule (Box 1.1) the probability of one or the other occurring is the sum of the
individual probabilities, or 1 4 + 1 4 = 1 2

From the above discussion, prediction is made that 1 4 of the F2 progeny

would be TT 1 2 would be Tt and 1 4 will be tt. These figures are exactly
similar to those found with the method shown in Figure 1.9. Therefore, you can
apply either of these methods for any monohybrid cross. 29
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

Box 1.1: Some Basics of Probability

A probability is the ratio of the number of times a particular event occurs to

the number of trials during which the event could have happened. For
example, the probability of picking a heart (from 13 hearts) from a deck of
cards (52 cards) is p (heart) =13 52 = 1 4 . That is, we would expect, on the
average to pick a heart from a deck of cards once in every four trials.

Probability and the laws of chance are involved in the transmission of genes.
As a simple example, let’s consider a couple and the chance that their child
will be a boy or girl. Let us assume that an equal number of boys and girls
are born. The probability that the child be a boy is 1 2 or 0.5. Similarly, the
probability that the child be a girl is 1 2 .

Let us see some rules of probability. Firstly, we take up the product rule.
This rule states that the probability of two independent events occurring
simultaneously is the product of each of their probabilities. Thus, the
probability that a family will have two girls in a row is 1 4 . That is, the
probability of the first child being a girl is 1 2 , the probability of the second
being a girl is also 1 2 , and the product rule of the probability of the first and
the second being girl is 1 2 × 1 2 or 1 4 . Similarly, the probability of having
three boys in a row is 1 2 × 1 2 × 1 2 = 1 8 .

The sum rule of probability states that the probability, that one of two
mutually exclusive events will occur is the sum of their individual probabilities.
For example, if two dice are thrown, what is the probability of getting two
sixes or two ones? The probability of getting two sixes is found by using the
product rule. The probability of getting one six, p (one six) is 1 6 , since there
are six faces to a dice. Therefore, the probability of getting two sixes, p (two
sixes), when two dice are thrown is 1 6 × 1 6 = 1 36 . Similarly, p (two ones)
= 1 36 . To role two sixes or two ones involves mutually exclusive events, so
the sum rule is used to find the probability. The answer is 1 36 × 1 36 = 1 18 .

When a plant is Confirmation of the Law of Segregation: The use of Test Crosses
crossed with any of
its parents, it is called
Mendel did a number of tests to ensure the validity of his results while
a backcross. And formulating his law of segregation. He continued the self-fertilisations to the F6
when a plant is generation and found that in every generation both the dominant and
specifically crossed recessive characters appeared. He concluded that the law of segregation was
with its homozygous, valid no matter for how many generations it was carried out.
recessive parent,
then it would be In another experiment, instead of allowing the F1 heterozygous individuals to
called a testcross or
self-fertilise, he crossed them back to the recessive parent. Such a cross to a
test backcross.
recessive is called a test cross or some times a back cross (see the adjacent
Margin Remark) because it is used to test whether a dominant individual is
heterozygous or homozygous. For example, let us consider the case of
smooth and wrinkled seeds to understand it more clearly. The smooth (S)
character is dominant over the wrinkled (s). In the Figure 1.11 see the two
30 crosses (a & b).
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics
In the Figure 1.10 you can see cross a. Here the gametes produced by
parent 1 are of two types S and s, whereas the second parent produces
only one kind of gametes, i.e., s. As a result of random fusion of gametes,
half the progeny of the test cross are Ss heterozygotes having a smooth
phenotype. Owing to the dominance of the S allele, and the other half are
ss homozygotes and have a wrinkled phenotype. Test crosses are useful in
determining the genotype of F1 individuals as well as their parents.

Fig. 1.10: (a & b) Cross with a recessive parent and to confirm the law of
segregation.

The ratio 1:1 of dominant to recessive phenotypes would indicate that the
F1 smooth seeds used in the test cross are heterozygous. We can similarly
predict the outcome of a test cross of a homozygous dominant (Fig
1.11,cross b). The first parent produces only one kind of gametes, that is,
S, and so does the other, producing only s gametes. Thus, all the progeny
are Ss and have smooth seed phenotype. 31
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
Therefore, we can conclude that if an organism in a test cross gives rise
to progeny with the dominant phenotype, then the test-crossed plant must
have been homozygous dominant (as shown in cross b above). For the Ss
plant a 1:1 ratio of dominant to recessive phenotypes is expected as is
seen in test cross ‘a’.

The above discussion highlights the fact that the phenotypes of the progeny
of the test cross indicates the genotype of the individual tested. If all the
progeny show dominant phenotype, the individual tested is homozygous
dominant. If there is an approximately 1:1 ratio of progeny with dominant and
recessive phenotypes, then the individual is heterozygous.

Reasons for Mendel’s Success

Mendel’s success with the hybridisation experiments was mainly due to the
following reasons:

First, careful choice and selection of experimental material, that is, garden
pea. Besides several advantages it offers as an experimental material as
described in Subsection 1.4.1, it must be mentioned that it a diploid organism
having two sets of chromosomes. Through many generations of natural self
fertilization, garden peas had developed into pure lines, each of which could
be differentiated by its own characteristic features. Furthermore, in the seven
pairs of contrasting traits, Mendel chose to study the two parental plants
exhibiting well-defined, visible, contrasting morphological traits. The factors
responsible for the expression of the seven pairs chosen for study are located
on seven different chromosomes which was a fortunate coincidence and this
avoided the phenomenon of linkage.

Second, much of Mendel’s success in his experiments may be attributed to

his good judgement in making crosses between the parents that differed in
only one trait. In other words, he considered only one trait at a time when
analysing the progeny of a cross.

Thirdly, he methodically documented the results of his experiments.

Fourthly, by the application of mathematics he could analyse the segregating

populations and make proper interpretations.

SAQ 3
Pollen from a tall pea plant was dusted on the stigma of a flower from a dwarf
plant. What would be the reciprocal cross?

SAQ 4
Put a tick mark (√) on the correct choice:

(a) The offspring of mating between two pure strains are called:

(i) hybrids

32 (ii) mutants
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics
(iii) the P1 generation

(iv) the F2 generation

(b) An organism with two copies of the same alleles is:

(i) homozygous for the trait

(ii) homozygous for the allele

(iii) heterozygous for the trait

(iv) heterologous for the allele

(c) A woman without dimples marries a man who has dimples and who is
known to be heterozygous for the trait. What is the chance their first child
will have dimples?

(i) one in four

(ii) one in two

(iii) three out of four

(iv) it is certain

(d) A test cross is done to find out:

(i) the genotype of an individual by examining the phenotypes of its

offspring from a particular mating

(ii) the genotype of an individual by testing for its DNA content

(iii) whether a mating is fertile

(iv) whether two species can inter-breed

(e) A test cross distinguishes between

(i) two homozygous forms

(ii) a homogygous dominant and the heterozygous form

(iii) two heterozygous forms

(iv) a homozygous recessive and a heterozygous form

(f) The allele for black hair colour (B) is dominant over the allele for white
hair colour (b) in guinea pigs. A test cross between a black male a and a
white female produced a litter of five black and one white guinea pigs.
The genotype of the father is:

(i) unknown, due to the small sample size

(ii) BB

(iii) Bb

(iv) bb
33
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
1.4.3 Dihybrid Crosses and Mendel’s Law of
Independent Assortment
The experiments of Mendel that we have discussed so far have dealt with
crosses between plants differing in only one character or alleles at one locus.
The most logical extension of Mendel’s experiments is to determine what
happens when more than one pair of characters is simultaneously involved in
the cross. He performed a number of dihybrid crosses in which the parents
made different contributions for two traits. From these experiments he
proposed his second law, the law of independent assortment. This law
states that the factors or genes for different traits assort independently of one,
another. In other words, the genes on different chromosomes behave
independently for the production of gametes.

Let us examine the results of Mendel’s experiments in which he crossed plants

that differed in two characters. An example is mating of plants involving
smooth or round (S)/wrinkled (s) and yellow (Y)/ green (y) seed traits. As you
already know, yellow is dominant to green and smooth is dominant to wrinkled.
Mendel made crosses between true breeding smooth, yellow plants (SSYY)
and wrinkled, green plants (ssyy). The results are shown in the Figure 1.11.

All the F1 seeds from this cross were smooth and yellow as predicted from the
results of monohybrid crosses. The smooth yellow parents produce SY
gametes which give rise to SsYy zygotes when fused with the sy gametes
from other parent. Because of the dominance of the smooth and yellow traits,
all F2 seeds are smooth and yellow. As in the monohybrid crosses, the F1 were
selfed to give rise to the F2 generation.

Mendel thought of two possible outcomes. One, that the genes for the traits
from the original (P1) parent would be transmitted to the progeny together. If
this was the case then a phenotypic ratio of 3:1 smooth-yellow: wrinkled-green
would be obtained. The second possibility was that each of the traits would be
inherited independently of the other.

Let us examine the Figure 1.12 carefully. The dihybrid plants grown from the
F1 seeds produce four types of gametes: SY, Sy, sY and sy. Because of the
independence of the two pairs of genes there is an equal frequency of each
gametic type. When the F1 plants are selfed, these four types of gametes fuse
randomly in all possible combinations. All the possible 16 gametic fusions are
represented on the Punnett square in the above figure. In the dihybrid cross, 9
different genotypes are obtained but because of dominance only 4 phenotypes
are observed.

1 SSYY, 2 SsYY
 = 9 smooth, yellow
2 SSYy, 4 SsYy 

1 SSyy, 2 Ssyy = 3 smooth, green

1 ssYY, 2 ssYy = 3 wrinkled, yellow

1 ssyy, = 1 wrinkled, green

34 Mendel’s actual observations are shown in the Table 1.3.

Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics

Fig. 1.11: A dihybrid cross followed through the second generation. On

inspecting the Punnett square one can find nine different genotypes in
the F2 generation. Because of dominance in one member of each pair
of alleles, only four phenotypes are expressed.

Table 1.3: Results of Mendel’s Dihybrid Cross

Generation Seed Type Number F2 Ratio
Parents Round, green vs wrinkled, yellow
F1 Round, yellow
F2 Round, yellow 315 9.84
Wrinkled, yellow 101 3.16
Round, green 108 3.38
Wrinkled, green 32 1.00

556
35
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
From this example, it is clear that if two pairs of characters are inherited
independently then the selfing of F1 individuals will yield a 9:3:3:1 ratio in the
F2 generation. This ratio arises as a result of independent assortment of two
gene pairs into gametes and of the random fusion of these gametes. The
9:3:3:1 ratio is the product of two 3:1 ratios, that is, (3:1)2 = 9:3:3:1. This
prediction was met in all dihybrid crosses that Mendel performed. In every
case the F2 ratio was close to 9:3:3:1. Based on the results, Mendel concluded
that the factors (genes) determining different traits were transmitted
independently.

Let us now sum up as to what we have learnt in this section so far. The
principle of independent assortment states that genes on one chromosome
segregate independently of those on another chromosome in the production of
gametes.

Branch Diagram of a Dihybrid Cross

As is already apparent, it is quite a tedious, time and space consuming job to

construct a Punnett square of gametic combinations, then to count the
numbers of each phenotypic class from all the genotypes produced. This
exercise is not too difficult for dihybrid crosses, but for more than two gene
pairs it becomes rather complex. So, it is better that we get into the habit of
calculating the expected ratio of phenotypic classes by using a branch
diagram.

We shall use the same example as the one used in Figure 1.12 where two
gene pairs assort independently into gametes. As you have seen earlier that
on selfing F1 of an Ss heterozygote gave rise to progeny of which three fourths
were smooth and one fourth were wrinkled. Genotypically, the former class
had atleast one dominant S allele, that is, its members were SS or Ss. A
convenient way to signify this situation is to use a dash to indicate an allele
that has no effect on the phenotype. Thus, S-means that phenotypically the
seeds are smooth and genotypically they are either SS or Ss.

Now consider the F2 produced from a selfing of Yy heterozygotes; again a 3:1

ratio is seen with three-fourth of the seeds being yellow and one-fourth of the
seeds being green. The same holds good for the smooth vs wrinkled seeds in
the F2 ratio. Let us now find out the expected proportion of F2 seeds that are
smooth and yellow. This ratio can be obtained by the product of the probability
that an F2 seed will be smooth and the probability that it will be yellow, or
3 4 × 3 4 = 9 16 (Fig. 1.13, 1st ratio). Similarly, the expected proportion of F2
individuals that are wrinkled and yellow is 3 4 × 1 4 = 3 16 (Fig. 1.13, 2nd
ratio). Extending this calculation to all possible phenotypes, as shown in the
36 Figure, we obtain the ratio 9:3:3:1.
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics

Fig. 1.12: The example used here is the same as that of Fig. 1.11. The above
Figure shows the calculation of the F2 phenotypic ratio by the branch
diagram method.

If one wishes to know the genotype of the F1’s and the F2’s from a dihybrid
cross, a test cross may be used. The example that we shall use to explain this
point is already familiar to you that is of smooth/wrinkled, and yellow/green
characters of pea seeds. The F1 here is a double heterozygote (Fig. 1.13)
SsYy. As you know this F1 (Fig. 1.13). You may recall that in a test cross, we
use a doubly homozygous recessive plant and in this case it is ssyy. A test
cross like this one, shows a 1:1:1:1 ratio in the offspring of SsYy: ssYy:ssyy
genotypes which means a 1:1:1:1 ratio of smooth-yellow:smooth-
green:wrinkled-yellow:wrinkled-green phenotypes. This 1:1:1:1 phenotype
ratio is diagnostic of test crosses in which the “unknown” parent is a double
heterozygote.

In the F2 of a dihybrid cross there are nine different genotypic classes but only
four phenotypic classes. The genotypes can be ascertained by test crossing.
Use Table 1.4 for obtaining the genotypes. Substitute A, a, B and b in the table
with the respective character involved, i.e., with S, s Y or y. The test crosses in
the table (from top to bottom) lists the 9 genotypic classes and the top column
(from left to right) indicates the four phenotypic classes. 37
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

Fig. 1.13: A dihybrid (YySs) being test-crossed by double recessive, green

wrinkled parent (yyss).

Table 1.4: Proportions of Phenotypic classes Expected from test crosses

of strains with various genotypes for two gene pairs.

Test crosses Proportion of Phenotypic Classes

A- B- A- bb aa B- aa bb

AABB × aabb 1 0 0 0

AaBB × aabb 12 0 12 0

AABb × aabb 12 12 0 0

AaBb × aabb 14 14 14 14

AAbb × aabb 0 1 0 0

Aabb × aabb 0 12 0 12
38
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics
aaBB × aabb 0 0 1 0

aaBb × aabb 0 0 12 12

aabb × aabb 0 0 0 1

From the above discussion it can be concluded that a test cross is a truly
diagnostic approach to confirm the genotype.

SAQ 5
Given below is a Punnett square, go through it carefully and then answer the
following question.

Female

AB Ab AB Ab

AB AABB AABb AABB AABb

Male Ab AABb 1 AABb AAbb

aB AaBB AaBb 2 AaBb

ab AaBb Aabb AaBb aabb

Key : A and B are dominant

a and b are recessive

a) The genotype of the male parent is …………… .

b) The genotype of the organism in box 1 is …………… .

c) The organism in box 2 is ……………. for trait ‘A’.

d) The organism in box 2 exhibits …………….. dominant genetic traits.

1.4.4 Trihybrid Crosses

Mendel also applied his laws to the inheritance of three characters in other
garden pea crosses. He found that both these laws hold good in this case
also. Such crosses involving three characters are called trihybrid crosses. In
such crosses too, the proportions of F2 genotypes and phenotypes are
predicted precisely with the same logic used before, with each character pair
considered independently. You can try drawing a Punnett square to find out
the genotypes as well as the phenotypic ratios, but here a branch diagram is
given to show the derivation of the relative frequencies of the phenotypic
classes. In the example illustrated in the Figure 1.14, the independently
assorting character pairs in the cross are: smooth versus wrinkled seeds;
yellow versus green seeds, and purple versus white flowers, there are 64
combinations of 8 maternal and 8 paternal gametes. Combination of these
gametes give rise to 27 different genotypes and 8 different phenotypes. 39
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

Fig. 1.14: Branch diagram of a trihybrid cross. The ratio of the eight phenotypic
classes above are calculated in the same manner as you have learnt in
Figs. 1.10 and 1.13.

1.5 SUMMARY
In this unit you have learnt:

• Genetics is a branch of biology concerned with the structure,

transmission and expression of hereditary information. More than a
century ago, an Austrian Monk, Gregor Mendel worked on garden peas.
He analysed the data mathematically and laid foundation for the science
of modern genetics.

• Genes are present on chromosomes. The term locus refers to the site a
gene occupies in chromosome.

• Different alternate forms of particular gene are called alleles; they

occupy corresponding loci on homologous chromosomes.

• An individual that carries two identical alleles for a given locus is said to
be homozygous for that locus. If the two alleles are different then the
individual is said to be heterozygous.

• According to Mendel’s law of dominance, one allele (the dominant allele)

masks the expression of the other allele (the recessive allele) in a
heterozygous individual. For this reason an individual’s appearance
40 (phenotype) may be different from the genetic constitution (genotype).
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics
• According to Mendel’s law of segregation, during meiosis, the alleles for
each locus separate or segregate, from each other as the homologous
chromosomes separate. When haploid gametes are formed, each will
contain one and only one allele for each locus.

• According to Mendel’s law of independent assortment, during meiosis,

each pair of alleles will segregate independently of the pairs. Alleles at
different loci, therefore, assort randomly into the gametes.

• A cross between homozygous parents (P generation) that differ from

each other with respect to their alleles at one locus is called a
monohybrid cross; if they differ at two loci, it is a dihybrid cross. The first
generation of offspring is heterozygous and is called the first filial or F1,
generation; the generation produced by a cross of two F1 individuals is
the second filial or F2, generation. If a F1 individual is crossed with a
homozygous recessive individual the cross is known as a test cross.

• Mendel first demonstrated that inheritance was based on the

segregation of alleles at a locus. Through self-fertilisation of F1 garden
pea plants, obtained from crosses between plants with different
characteristics, he observed a 3:1 ratio of dominant to recessive
phenotypes in the F2 progeny. The law of segregation developed from
these experiments states that heterozygous individuals produce equal
proportions of gametes containing members of a pair of alleles. Mendel’s
second principle of independent assortment states that alleles at
different loci assort independently of each other resulting in a 9:3:3:1
ratio in F2 progeny from a dihybrid cross, and in a 27:9:9:9:3:3:3:1 ratio
in a trihybrid cross.

1.6 TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1. Write whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F).

a) Mendel crossed different type of pea plants to blend their

characteristics.

b) Homozygotes have identical alleles for a given trait on homologous

chromosomes.

c) An organism having the genotype Tt makes only one type of

gametes.

d) All organisms with identical phenotypes have identical genotypes.

e) The phenotype determines whether an organism is heterozygous

for that trait.

f) Phenotype determines whether an organism is heterozygous or

homozygous.

g) Any organism displaying a recessive trait must be homozygous for

that trait.

h) A cross between a homozygous dominant tall pea plant and a

heterozygous tall pea plant yields 100% tall plants. 41
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
i) The inability for a person to roll his tongue represents a complete
absence of the dominant gene (assuming tongue rolling is the
dominant trait).

j) A cross between a homozygous dominant male and a

heterozygous dominant female would not have any homozygous
recessive.

2. Two long-winged flies were mated. The offspring consisted of 77 flies

with long wings and 24 flies with short wings. Is the short-winged
condition dominant of recessive? What are the genotypes of the
parents?

3. The ability to roll the tongue into almost circle is conferred by a dominant
gene in humans, while its recessive allele fails to confer this ability. A
man and a woman are heterozygous for tongue rolling, and have three
sons. These three sons marry women who are not tongue rollers.
Assuming that each of the three sons has a different genotype, what
proportion of their children might have the ability to roll their tongues.

4. Normal length of fur in rabbit is controlled by the dominant allele R, and

a short type of fur called “rex” is determined by the recessive allele r.
The dominant allele B is responsible for black fur colour; while the
recessive allele b determine brown.

a) Diagram a dihybrid cross between a homozygous rabbit with

normal-length black fur and rex rabbit with brown fur. What are the
phenotypic ration resulting from this cross?

b) What proportion of the normal, black rabbit in the F2 generation of

this cross can be expected to be homozygous for both pairs of
genes?

c) What would be the expected phenotypic and genotypic results of a

back cross between a member of the F1 generation and a fully
recessive rex, brown parent?

1.7 ANSWERS
Self Assessment Questions
1. a) heterozygote, genotype

b) homozygous dominant, genotype

c) heterozygote, genotype

d) phenotype

e) homozygous dominant, genotype

f) heterozygote, genotype

g) homozygous recessive, genotype

h) phenotype

42 i) homozygous recessive, genetype

Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics
2. (a) iv, (b) i, (iii) iii, (iv) ii.

3. Pollen from dwarf plant dusted on the stigma of a tall plant.

4. a) i, (b) i, (c) ii, (d) i, (e) ii, (f) iii.

5. (a) AaBb, (b) AAbb, (c) heterozygous, (d) 2.

Terminal Questions
1. a) False, b) True, c) False, d) False, e) False,
f) False, g) True, h) True, i) True, j) True.

2. When we are not told which of the characteristics is dominant and which
is recessive, we can deduce it from the ratio of phenotypes in the
progeny. We know that 77 flies have long wings and 24 have short
wings. This gives us an approximate ratio of 3 long-winged flies to ever 1
short- winged fly.

77 24 = 3 1

As you know, the three-to-one ratio signifies that dominant and recessive
characteristics are most likely involved. Since there are 3 long-winged
ones, it suggests that short-wingedness is recessive.

The presence of short-winged flies (homozygous recessive) in the

progeny suggests that both parents carry the recessive gene and are
thus heterozygotes.

Let L be the gene for long wings in flies and l be the gene for short
wings. In the cross between two long-winged heterozygous parents:

3. Let us represent the dominant allele for the trait of tongue-rolling by R,

and the recessive allele by r. Only three possible genotypes could result
from the cross of the heterozygous parents. These alleles are RR, Rr
and rr. Let one of the sons be RR, therefore, a tongue roller; the second
son Rr and also a tongue roller; and the third son rr (homozygous
recessive) and thus unable to roll his tongue. All three sons have
married women who are not tongue rollers and who are, therefore, rr.

Let us now determine the proportion of the offspring who will be able to
roll their tongues. 43
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

4. (a) First draw the Punnett square of this cross. The genotype of the
homozygous black rabbit with normal fur is BBRR and the
genotype of the homozygous brown rex rabbit is bbrr. The result of
the cross is shown in the figure given below.

Gametes BR Br bR br

BR BBRR BBRr BbRR BbRr

Br BBRr BBrr BbRr Bbrr

bR BbRR BbRr bbRR bbRr

br BbRr Bbrr bbRr bbrr

Summary of F2 phenotypes:

9 Black, long : 3 Black, rex : 3 Brown, long : 1 Brown, rex. This is

an example of a typical dihybrid cross. The ratio 9:3:3:1 is
expected from all dihybrid crosses involving dominance.

(b) By scanning the above diagram, one can count 9 normal-furred

black F2 rabbits (either BB or Bb of fur colour and either RR or Rr
for fur length, since normal length of fur black colour are dominant
traits); of these only one is homozygous for both traits – BBRR

Total number of normal black F2 rabbits expected = 9

Number of those expected to be homozygous for both traits = 1

44 Ratio = 1:9
Unit 1 Introduction to Genetics
(c) Genotype of F1 member – BbRr

Genotype of brown, rex parent – bbrr

The genotype and phenotypic results of this back cross are:

BbRr × bbrr
↓

Gamete BR Br bR br

br BbRr Bbrr bbRr bbrr

Summary of back cross results : 1 Black, long : 1 black, rex : 1

black, long : 1 brown, rex

45
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

UNIT 2

EXTENSION & MODIFICATIONS

OF MENDELIAN GENETIC
ANALYSIS
ANALYSISI

Structure
2.1 Introduction Epistasis

Objectives Supplementary Gene

Interaction
2.2 Dominance
Duplicate Genes
Complete Dominance
(Pseudoalleles)
Incomplete Dominance
2.5 Lethal Alleles
(Blending Inheritance or
Semi/Intermediate 2.6 Pleiotropy
Dominance)
2.7 Sex-Linked Genes
Codominance
2.8 Degrees of Gene
2.3 Multiple Alleles Expression
ABO Blood Type Alleles in Penetrance
Humans
Expressivity
Rh Factor Alleles in Humans
2.9 Summary
Incompatibility in Plants
2.10 Terminal Question
2.4 Gene Interactions and
2.11 Answers
Modified Mendelian Ratios
Complementary Gene
Interaction (9:7 Phenotypic
Ratio)

2.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous unit you have been introduced to the concept of genetics and
as to how it has developed unto full fledged discipline of genetics with the
46 Mendel’s work on garden pea. The secret of inheritance mechanism of all the
Unit 2 Extension & Modifications of Mendelian Genetic Analysis-I
traits or characters in an organism, from parents to off-springs, lies in the
genes. It is now an established fact that the segments of DNA express in a
very well defined manner to produce a trait or character. Each gene has two
alternative forms called alleles, each of which occurs at the same locus in
each homologous chromosome. As you all know, the term ‘allele’ comes from
‘allelomorph’ and refers to the different forms of a gene which affect a
phenotype in an organism. Thus number of allelic forms of a gene may be
many in a population, but since each organism has only one pair of
homologous chromosome of a kind, only two of its variants are present in an
organism.

Various interactions may occur between alleles of same genes or alleles of

different genes, which give rise to different phenotypes, making the inheritance
patterns complex. The phenotypic expression of these characters could not be
explained by Mendel’s laws alone and thus this has opened a whole new
myriad of allelic and non-allelic interactions. This unit explains the deviations
from Mendelian principles, its extensions and modifications that have led to
the occurrence of different phenotypes in a progeny as compared to their
parents. Broadly categorizing, such interactions can be classified as-

1) Intragenic interactions: When the two alleles of same gene interact

with each other and affect a phenotype, it is known as inter-allelic, allelic
gene or intragenic interactions, for examples- incomplete dominance, co-
dominance and multiple alleles.

2) Intergenic interactions: If the alleles of different genes, located on

separate loci, interact with each other and influence a phenotype, it is
known as non-allelic or intergenic interactions. For example-
complementary gene interaction, epistasis, supplementary gene
interaction and duplicate genes.

Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to:

define various terms related to intergenic and intragenic interactions,

understand the concepts underlying the modifications of Mendelian

genetics,

analyse the influence of various interactions among alleles and genes

on a phenotype,

distinguish among different allelic and non-allelic gene interactions, and

explain the phenomena of production of new phenotypes.

2.2 DOMINANCE
We have studied in the previous unit that Gregor Mendel's experiments laid
the very basis of the concepts of heredity, however, these studies were
confined to the seven traits of pea plant, the conclusions were also restricted
to the observations obtained thereof. The only relationship established by 47
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
Mendel between the factors or alleles of a trait was dominance and
recessiveness. This simplicity of the Mendel’s principles also come from the
fact that the inheritance patterns of the seven traits selected by Mendel were
fortunately all straight forward and showed no complexities. Later when the
study was extended to other traits or organisms, it became evident that the
inheritance patterns are far more complex than the simple genetic pattern
described by Mendel. A variety of new traits and characters were investigated
which were the result of some undefined genic/allelic interactions. Let us
discuss the Mendelian concept of complete dominance and its modifications-
incomplete dominance and co-dominance.

2.2.1 Complete Dominance

Complete dominance, as inferred by Mendel, refers to the type of dominance
in which one allele completely masks the expression of other allele and is
therefore said to be completely dominant. The allele which is masked or
remains unexpressed is called recessive. The genotype of organism exhibiting
complete dominance is heterozygous.A dominant feature of a trait is
represented by allele ‘A’ and its recessive feature by allele ‘a’. The
homozygous condition ‘AA’ is responsible for its prominent phenotype while
‘aa’ gives its contrasting phenotype. When both the alleles appear together in
heterozygous condition (Aa), the expression of ‘a’ is completely masked and
only the phenotype of ‘A’ is visible. In such a case the allele ‘A’ is said to be
completely dominant over allele ‘a’, and thus ‘a’ is said to be recessive.
Phenotypically, dominant characters can be easily recognized because they
are expressed even if one dominant allele is present. Recessive alleles need
to come in pair for expression, therefore, they can be recognized only in
homozygous individuals (aa). Thus the heterozygous individuals, who are the
carriers of recessive allele, are not recognizable on the basis of phenotype,
however, can be identified through test cross. In test cross potential carriers
are crossed with homozygous recessive individuals to know their in genotype
(Fig. 2.1).

The relationship of dominance and recessiveness, as deduced by Mendel, can

be explained by taking example of seed shape in pea plants. The seeds in pea
plant can be of any of the two shapes- round or wrinkled. The allele assigned
to round seed shape is ‘R’ while allele for wrinkled seed shape is ‘r’. If a
monohybrid cross is performed between a plant homozygous for round seeds
(RR) with another plant homozygous for wrinkled seeds (rr), the F1 generation
completely resembles the parents with dominant phenotype i.e. round seeds.
In heterozygous plants ‘Rr’, the round shape of seeds completely masks the
wrinkled phenotype. Thus allele ‘R’ for round shape was said to be dominant
over wrinkled ‘r’.

The dominant- recessive pattern as inferred by Mendel was too

straightforward and does not always exhibit as such. The observable
phenotype may occur due to the influence of different environmental factors or
other genic or intergenic interactions. In case of inheritance of seed shape in
peas, the round and wrinkled phenotypes are acquired due to biosynthesis of
amylopectin, a branched chain component of starch. The biosynthesis of
48 amylopectin occurs by the action of starch-branching enzyme I (SBE-I), and
Unit 2 Extension & Modifications of Mendelian Genetic Analysis-I
the activity of this enzyme affects the amount of amylopectin deposition in
seeds. The presence of amylopectin helps in adequate retention of water so
that while maturation of seeds the shrinkage is uniform and they acquire a
round shape. In homozygous RR seeds gene for SBE-I enzyme at ‘r’ locus
was found to be fully functional, and in heterozygous Rr seeds it was partially
functional. However, in homozygous rr seeds, the SBE-I gene function was
found to be interrupted due to insertion of a small DNA sequence and these
seeds completely lacked amylopectin. This led to an increase in amount of
free carbohydrates and higher osmotic pressures. Therefore, when shrinkage
started on maturation, abrupt loss of large amount of water led to acquisition of
wrinkled phenotype in ‘rr’ seeds. Deep observation of all the phenotypes also
revealed the amount of amylopectin and thereby the round shape of seeds in
Rr was somewhat intermediate between RR and rr. The shape of starch grains
was also quite distinct from each other in all the three genotypes.

Fig. 2.1: Complete Dominance in inheritance of seed shape phenotype in Pea.

Thus simply rendering the round / wrinkled phenotypes in pea seeds to the
phenomenon of dominance was not justifiable and suggested for more insights
into the genetic mechanisms.

2.2.2 Incomplete Dominance (Blending Inheritance or

Semi/Intermediate Dominance)
Another type of interaction between two alleles was discovered by Karl
Correns in 1900, while experimenting with Four O’ Clock plant (Mirabilis jalapa
belonging to family Nyctaginaceae). When he crossed the homozygous plant
with red flowers (RR) with homozygous recessive plant with white flowers
(rr), he noticed a strange phenotype in F1 hybrids. The flowers of heterozygous
(Rr) plants were pink, instead of being red by virtue of dominance. He
concluded that this was due to an intra-allelic interaction in which the dominant
allele could express itself partially in heterozygous condition. Since the
character appeared to be intermediate between the dominant and recessive
phenotypes, the phenomenon was called ‘incomplete dominance’. 49
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
Further, if selfing is done among F1 hybrids, the phenomenon of incomplete
dominance persists and phenotypic and genotypic ratios obtained in F2
generation are Red1: Pink2: White1 (Fig. 2.2).

2.2.3 Codominance
Codominance is a phenomenon in which both the alleles are completely
expressed in the heterozygous condition, the phenotype of the
heterozygous individual is a mixture of both. Since the characters
expressed by both the alleles exist simultaneously in equal amount, there is no
appearance of intermediate phenotype in heterozygotes as is seen in
incomplete dominance. Codominance is observed in the MN blood groups of
humans. This classification of human blood is based on the presence of M and
N antigens on the surfaces of red blood cells. The M and N antigens are
produced by a pair of codominant alleles designated as LM & LN. The
homozygous condition of allele LM produces marker antigen M, while an LN
produces marker antigen N, on the surface of red blood cells. Homozygotes
LMLM have only M while LNLN have only N markers, however, heterozygotes L
M N
L have both types of marker antigens in equal amounts on the cell surface. If
a cross occurs between individuals with LMLN genotypes, the probablility of
occurance of M, MN, and N blood types would be as given below:

Red Pink White

1 : 2 : 1

50 Fig. 2.2: Incomplete Dominance in flowers of Mirabilis jalapa.

Unit 2 Extension & Modifications of Mendelian Genetic Analysis-I
Table2.1: Codominance in the MN blood groups in humans.

Genotype Phenotype Antigen present on

RBCs

LM LM M M

LM Ln MN MN

LM LN N N

Another classical example of codominance is inheritance of colour of flower in

Camellia plants. If white Camellia are crossed with red Camellia, the flowers
produced in F1 generation produce flowers with mixed patches of red and
white colour. The alleles for both red and white petal colour are codominant
and both the colours are expressed simultaneously in equal amounts.

Fig. 2.3: Codominance in Camellia flowers.

SAQ 1
i) The allele which is masked or remains unexpressed is called
…………….. .

ii) The flowers of heterozygous (Rr) plants were pink instead of being red
by virtue of ………………. .

iii) ………………. is a phenomenon in which both the alleles are completely

expressed in heterozygous condition, the phenotype of heterozygous
individual is a mixture of both.
51
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
2.3 MULTIPLE ALLELES
Multiple alleles refer to the existence of more than two forms of an allele in a
species, which can give rise to a number of variations for a particular
phenotype. Multiple alleles exist within a population and an individual
possesses only two of its forms. Multiple alleles have been found in most
populations including humans and have significant role in genetic stability of
the population. Different allelic forms of a gene differ very minutely in their
nucleotide sequence and thereby exhibit different levels of activity of their
respective gene products. The phenotypes produced by multiple alleles may
thus range from wild type (normal) to mutant. Most of the genes in populations
of most organisms have multiple alleles. The ‘normal’ or ‘wild-type’ allele is
thus not characterized by a single nucleotide sequence, rather it is a set of
different nucleotide sequences, each of which is capable of carrying out the
normal function of the gene.

A classic example of multiple alleles is coat colours in rabits (Fig. 2.4). This
phenotype is determined by a gene that has four alleles denoted differently i.e.
allele C is for wild-type i.e. full colour, ch is for Himalayan characterized by
white coat with black tips, cch is for chinchilla having mixed coat colour and
white hair, and c stands for albino. The range of coat colours also exhibits a
kind of gradation in the order of dominance of the concerned genes, as shown
below-

C>cch>ch>c

Fig. 2.4: Expression of multiple alleles in coat colour of rabbits.

According to this phenomenon, full colour C is dominant to all other coat

colour alleles, chinchilla is dominant to Himalayan and albino, and Himalayan
is dominant only to albino. This gradation has profound effect on the
phenotypic and genotypic ratios of successive generations. The occurrence of
homozygous dominant individuals (CC) is highest and this allele is called ‘wild
52 type’. Rest other alleles (cch, ch and c) are called mutants (Table 2.2).
Unit 2 Extension & Modifications of Mendelian Genetic Analysis-I
Table 2.2: Different Genotypes and their respective Phenotypes for coat colour
in rabbit.

Genotypes Phenotypes
ch h
CC, Cc , Cc , Cc Full Colour (Wild type)

cchcch, cchch, cchc Chinchilla

chch, chc Himalayan

cc Albino

The inheritance pattern of multiple alleles of coat colour in rabbit is explained

on the basis of two crosses between individuals of different phenotypes. When
wild type homozygous full colour (CC) rabbit is crossed with homozygous
recessive albino (cc), the phenotype of F1 heterozygous offspring (Cc)
resembles dominant parent because allele C is dominant over c. The cross
between two heterozygous (Cc) individuals yields coloured phenotype in 3:1
ratio in F2 generation. In another cross, when Himalayan (chch) individual is
crossed with albino type (cc), the F1 heterozygous offspring (chc) show
Himalayan phenotype. The cross between individuals of F1 generation again
yields 3:1 phenotypic ratio in F2 generation (Fig. 2.5).

Fig. 2.5: Cross showing inheritance of coat colour phenotype in rabbits. (a)
Cross between coloured and albino, (b) Cross between Himalayan and
albino.

2.3.1 ABO Blood Type Alleles in Humans

Another common example of multiple alleles is ABO blood types in humans
(Table 2.3). The blood groups in humans are classified as A, B, O, or AB,
depending upon the three types of alleles IA, IB, and IO. Here, ‘I’ denotes an
antigen ‘isoagglutinogen’ which is present on the surface of red blood cells.
There are two types of oligosaccharides, either of which are attached to the
common acceptor isoagglutinogen by the action of enzyme
glycosyltransferase. This enzyme is the product of ABO gene having three
alleles. Allele ‘IA’ encodes for A- glycosyltransferase which converts
isoagglutinogen into A antigen, and allele ‘IB’ encodes for B-
glycosyltransferase which converts isoagglutinogen into B antigen. Allele ‘IO’ 53
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
does not encode any of these enzyme, instead produces a different protein,
therefore no oligosaccharide component is attached to its corresponding
isoagglutinogen and it is left unaltered.

The blood group of an individual is determined by the type of allelic pair

present. Both the alleles of blood types i.e. A and B, are codominant and
express completely. Individuals having the genotype IA IA or IA IO have type A
blood group and the ones having the genotype IB IB or IB IO have type B blood
group. Heterozygous individuals IAIB have both A and B types of antigens
therefore their blood group is designated as AB. People having homozygous
allele combination IO IO lack either of the two antigens and their blood group is
designated as O.

Table 2.3: Genotypes and blood groups arising from different allelic
combinations

Genotype Blood Antigen on Antibodies in Can receive Can donate

Type red blood plasma blood from blood to
cells

AO, AA I AI O , I AI A A A anti-B O and A A and AB

BO, BB I BI O , I BI B B B anti-A O and B B and AB

AB I AI B AB A and B neither O, A, B, and AB only

AB

OO I OI O O neither anti-A and O only O, A, B, and

anti-B AB

The ABO antigens are the most immunogenic of all other blood group
antigens, therefore, ABO system of classification of blood group has foremost
clinical significance. The agglutination reactions arising due to incompatibility
of A, B and O antigens are most common cause of death following error or
mismatch in blood transfusions (Fig. 2.6).

Fig. 2.6: Agglutination reaction and subsequent hemolysis due to incompatible

54 blood transfusion.
Unit 2 Extension & Modifications of Mendelian Genetic Analysis-I
The type of blood group is determined genetically and is, therefore, inherited
by a child from his parents. Since the two alleles IA and IB are codominant,
while IO represents a recessive allele, there are number of possibilities arising
for blood type of children. The inheritance patterns can be followed by making
probable parental combinations of alleles (Table 2.4).

Table 2.4: Inheritance pattern of Blood Groups in Humans.

2.3.2 Rh Factor Alleles in Humans

Rh Factor or Rhesus factor is second most clinically significant blood group
system of ABO blood group system. It was discovered by Karl Landsteiner and
AlexanderWiener in 1937 (published in 1940), long after the discovery of ABO
system, when the two biologists carried out immunization experiments on
rabbit using blood of rhesus monkey. They found that the antibodies produced
after immunization, agglutinate the blood of monkey and also the blood of
large number of human subjects. Rh incompatibility can be tested by reacting
a blood sample with anti Rh serum and look for occurrence of agglutination as
a positive response. An individual is either Rh + if his blood agglutinates, or is
Rh- if there is no agglutination in such reaction.

Rh factor is based upon the presence of certain antigens on the surface of

RBCs. Until now, about 49 antigens have been identified, encoded by RHD
and RHCE genes, making it genetically very complex. The D antigen encoded
by RHD is said to be most immunogenic, therefore Rh + phenotype simply
refers to the presence of D antigen while Rh- indicates its absence in the
blood, usually due to deletion of the concerned gene.

Alexander Wienner, discovered a number of Rh antigens and also proposed

their nomenclature known as Rh–hr nomenclature. He postulated a theory
for inheritance of Rh factor, later called Weiner’s theory. The theory suggests
the presence of an Rh gene at a particular locus which has eight multiple
alleles which produce this large array of Rh antigens. The five major ‘blood
factors’ or antigens identified by Wienner were Rh0, rh’, rh”, hr’ and hr”, of
which Rh0, rh’, rh” are encoded by gene R1 and hr’ and hr” are encoded by
gene r. This system of nomenclature is not followed now and is replaced by
the one developed by Ronald Fisher and R.R. Race. It is known as the Fisher-
Race system or DCE nomenclature, and it recognizes five most common
antigens D, C, c, E and e. The antigens C, c, and E, e are antithetical; antigen 55
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
D lacks any antithetical antigen therefore ‘d’ is used to indicate absence of D
antigen. In Weinner’s nomenclature, the antigens D, C and E correspond to
Rh0, rh’, rh”, while c and e antigens correspond to hr’ and hr”. The antigen D is
encoded by gene RHD and rest others are encoded by gene RHCE, located
on a separate locus. The two genes constitute eight haplotypes -Dce, dce,
DCe, dCe, DcE, dcE, DCE, and dCE, which are analogous to R0, r, R1, r′, R2,
r″, Rz, and ry respectively in Weinner’s system of nomenclature.

The Rh factor is clinically the second most important blood group system after
ABO blood group and is essentially checked for incompatibility to avoid
agglutination reactions after blood transfusion. It is also responsible for
haemolytic disease in fetus and new born, a condition arising due to
incompatibility between the fetal blood and maternal blood. When Rh- mother
carries Rh+ fetus (gene for Rh+ blood group inherited by fetus from Rh+
father), she is immunized to Rh antigens due to exposure to these antigens.
The first child is not affected, but during subsequent pregnancy, the second
fetus may be exposed to maternal anti-Rh antibodies. These are anti-D IgG,
which can cross the placenta, destruct the antigens on fetal RBCs, and cause
hemolysis. The disease is called hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) or
erythroblastosis fetalis, may range from mild to severe, even causing the
death of fetus.

The hemolytic disease of the newborn (Fig. 2.7), which is likely to occur due to
RhD incompatibility, is prevented by injecting anti-RhDimmunoglobulin Rho
(D) in mother at certain stages of pregnancy. IgG Rho (D) binds to fetal Rh
antigens that enter the blood stream of mother and prevent the elicitation of
primary antibody response. This preventive treatment reduces the risk of HDN
in subsequent pregnancy.

Fig. 2.7: Hemolytic disease (Erythroblastosis Fetalis) of the newborn and its
prevention in Rh- mother

2.3.3 Incompatibility in Plants

Incompatibility refers to the prevention of fertilization of male and female
gametes in bisexual plants, despite the gametes are functional. Incompatibility
56 may be seen between the gametes of same species (intraspecific) or between
Unit 2 Extension & Modifications of Mendelian Genetic Analysis-I
different species (interspecific). Intraspecific incompatibility, also known as
self-incompatibility, may operate to prevent fertilization between the gametes
of same plant or the gametes of different plants of same species. The
mechanisms of self-incompatibility are different in case of pre-fertilization and
post-fertilization barriers. The pre-fertilization involves pollen pistil interactions
such as pollen-stigma interaction, pollen-style interaction and pollen-ovule
interaction, in which the pollens may fail to germinate on stigma, if they
germinate the growth of pollen tube may be inhibited or may fail to enter the
ovule for gametic fusion.

Self-incompatibility is controlled by a single gene (designated as S) with

multiple alleles (Fig. 2.8). It was first discovered in tobacco (Nicotiana
tabacum).The multiple alleles of gene S are represented by S1, S2, S3, S4
……..Sn. All the alleles are codominant and either of the two alleles may be
present in a plant. A plant with S1S2 genotype will produce pollens with either
S1allele or S2 allele, which will be able to pollinate the pistil of all other
genotypes except S1S2. In other words, even if single allele is common in
both male and female parent plants, fertilization will not take place (Table 2.5).

Table 2.5: Multiple alleles responsible for Self-incompatibility in plants.

Male Female Genotype Compatibility Fertilization and

Genotype
Seed Production

S1S2 S1S2 Incompatible No

S1S3 S1S2 Incompatible No

S3S4 S1S2 Compatible Yes

S3S4 S2S5 Compatible Yes

Fig. 2.8: Self-incompatibility in plants. 57

Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

SAQ 2
Read the following statements and write True (T) or False (F) against each:

i) Most of genes in populations of most organisms have multiple alleles.

ii) ABO antigens are the most immunogenic of all other blood group
antigens.

iii) Rh factor is the clinically most insignificant blood group system of ABO
blood group system.

iv) Self incompatibility is controlled by a double gene with multiple alleles.

2.4 GENE INTERACTIONS AND MODIFIED

MENDELIAN RATIOS
The gene interactions studied above are allelic or intragenic, i.e. different
alleles of single gene interact and affect the expression of each other, and
may also lead to the development of a new phenotype. However, there are
interactions in which two or more genes located at different loci are
responsible to produce a phenotype. The expression of these genes is
influenced by each other and interactions among these genes may create new
phenotypic combinations exhibiting modified Mendelian ratios. Such
interactions are called non-allelic or inter-genic interactions.

The different non-allelic interactions discussed here are complementary gene

interaction, epistasis, supplementary gene interaction and duplicate genes.

2.4.1 Complementary Gene Interaction (9:7 Phenotypic

Ratio)
Complimentary genes are a pair of non-allelic genes that are together
responsible to produce one phenotype. Both are dominant but neither is
able to produce the phenotype alone. At least one dominant allele from both
the gene pairs is required to produce the concerned phenotype. In the
absence of any of the dominant alleles, i.e. when any of the recessive pairs is
present, mutant phenotype is expressed. If parents heterozygous for both the
genes are crossed, a phenotypic ratio of 9:7 is obtained in F2 generation.

This interaction is seen in sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) in which two genes
designated as C and P contribute in synthesis of anthocyanin to give purple
colour to flowers (Fig. 2.9). The mutant phenotype in this case is white colour
of flowers which appears due to non functioning of enzymes involved in
biosynthesis of anthocyanin.

If a homozygous pea plant with coloured flowers (CCPP) is crossed with

homozygous recessive with white flowers (ccpp), the F1 generation have
coloured flowers (CcPp). However, on selfing the F1 plants, the normal
Mendelian dihybrid ratio (9:3:3:1) is not obtained, instead the interactions of
58 complementary nature between the two genes C and P genes gives a
Unit 2 Extension & Modifications of Mendelian Genetic Analysis-I
modified phenotypic ratio (9:7). A similar cross is described in Figure-2.9 in
which a cross between two homozygous parents with white flowers CCpp and
ccPP yields F1 progeny with purple flowers (CcPp), which on selfing also
exhibit complementary gene action. This cross infers that the anthocyanin
pigment is biosynthesized only when a dominant allele from both the gene
pairs is present, giving purple phenotype. Recessive pair of either of the two
genes renders the enzymes of anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway non-
functional and white flowers are produced.

Fig. 2.9: Complementary Gene Interaction in Lathyrus odoratus.

2.4.2 Epistasis
Epistasis is another kind of gene interaction in which one gene masks the
expression of other non-allelic gene. The gene that shows the masking
action is called epistatic gene while the one whose expression is masked is
called a hypostatic gene.

On the basis of the effect exerted on another gene, epistasis can be of two
types- dominant and recessive epistasis.

a) Dominant Epistasis:This type of gene interaction occurs when a

dominant gene suppresses the expression of a gene at some other 59
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
locus. For example, in Cucurbita pepo (summer squash), gene for white
fruit colour is dominant and is designated as ‘W’ (Fig. 2.10). Another
gene ‘Y’ controls the expression of yellow colour in fruit. The gene W
exerts epistatic effect on the gene Y, therefore, the yellow colour is not
expressed in fruits in presence of gene W. When both the genes (W and
Y) are absent, green phenotype appears. The F2 phenotypic ratio in
dominant epistasis is 12:3:1.

Fig. 2.10: Dominant Epistasis in Cucurbita pepo.

b) Recessive Epistasis- In this type of gene action, a recessive pair of

alleles inhibits or masks the expression of a gene at another locus.The
epistatic action is exerted by the homozygous recessive gene pair and
its own expression by its dominant form occurs only in the presence of
other dominant gene.

Coat colour in mice is a common example of recessive epistasis. The

coat colour in mice can be black, agouti or albino, and the phenotype is
controlled by two pairs of genes- ‘A’ and ‘C’, both of which are non-
allelic. The agouti coat colour in mice is expressed by gene ‘A’ only in
presence of another dominant gene ‘C’. However, the recessive pair of
alleles ‘cc’ masks the expression of the gene A, for both the genotypes
AA and Aa. The black coat colour in mice is expressed by gene ‘C’ only
in absence of dominant gene A. Recessive homozygous forms of both
the gene pairs produce albino phenotype. The F2 phenotypic ratio in
such a case is 9:3:4 (Fig. 2.11).

2.4.3 Supplementary Gene Interaction

Supplementary gene interaction also occurs between two non-allelic genes,
each of which is responsible for same trait. This type of gene interaction is
very similar to recessive epistasis. In supplementary gene action, a dominant
60 gene is able to express its character, while another dominant gene, at different
Unit 2 Extension & Modifications of Mendelian Genetic Analysis-I
locus, is able to express itself only in presence of the first one. For example,
coat colour in mice is controlled by two pairs of genes- A and C. Gene C
expresses black coat colour in mice. All the black mice consist of at least one
dominant allele ‘C’ but no ‘A’. Whenever dominant gene ‘A’ is present along
with ‘C’, agouti phenotype appears, i.e. A is expressed only in presence of C.
Presence of either only dominant gene A or recessive forms of both (aa and
cc) produce no colour and give albino phenotype. The F2 phenotypic ratio is
same as in recessive epistasis i.e. 9:3:4 (Fig. 2.11).

Fig. 2.11: Inheritance of coat colour in mice.

2.4.4 Duplicate Genes (Pseudoalleles)

When two non-allelic pairs of genes are able to produce a phenotype, whether
they are alone or together, are called duplicate genes. In such case, the
mutant phenotype is produced by double homozygous recessive condition
only.

Example of duplicate genes is the presence of awn in the spikelet of rice,

which is due to two dominant duplicate genes (A and B). The presence of awn
is a dominant character and can be produced by any of the two genes.
Therefore, the awn is absent in only those plants which are homozygous
recessive (aabb). The F2 phenotypic ratio in such a cross is 15:1 (Fig. 2.12). 61
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

Fig. 2.12: Duplicate Genes in rice.

SAQ 3
Match Colum A with Colum B.

Colum A Colum B

i) Complementary Gene Interaction a) A recessive pair of alleles inhibit

or maks the expression of a
gene at another locus.

ii) Dominant Epistasis b) Occurs between two non-allelic

genes for same trait.

iii) Recessive Epistasis c) Two non-allelic pairs of genes

are able to produce a
phonotype.

iv) Supplementary Gene Interaction d) Dominant gene suppresses the

expression of a gene.

v) Duplicate genets e) Genes are a pair of non allelic

genes.

2.5 LETHAL ALLELES

In the previous section, you studied the various gene interactions resulting in
the modification of the ratio of F, individuals. The genetic ratios are also
affected by several other factors. One of them is a class of genes - lethal
62 genes, which you will study in this Section.
Unit 2 Extension & Modifications of Mendelian Genetic Analysis-I
Genes may affect viability as well as visible traits of an organism. The living
beings carrying certain genes are disadvantaged as they have impaired
structural as well as, biochemical functioning. For example, Drosophila flies
having white eyes and' vestigial wings have lower viability than their wild
types. The detrimental physiological effects are apparently associated with the
genes involved, that is, w and vg respectively. Some other genes have no
effect on the appearance of a fly but do influence viability in some ways. Other Tay-Sachs disease
genes have such serious effects that the organisms is unable to live. These (amaurotic idiocy):
are called lethal genes and the alleles involved in the situation are termed as A genetic recessive
lethal alleles. disorder that affects
the central nervous
If the lethal effect is dominant and immediate in expression, all individuals system. Its clinical
carrying the gene will die and the gene will be lost. Some dominant lethals, symptoms are:
however, have a delayed effect so that the organism lives for some time. cherry-red spot in eye
Recessive Iethals present in the heterozygous condition have no effect but macula (the visible
may come to expression when matings between carriers occurs. white portion of the
eye); after 6-9 months
We shall now take up an example for discussion, that clearly illustrates the rapid degeneration of
functioning of these genes. In 1904, shortly after the rediscovery of Mendel's vision and motor
principles, a French geneticist, Lucien Cuénot, while carrying out experimental skills; death at about
crosses on coat colour in mice, found that a gene was not consistent with the 2-4 years of age.
mendelian predictions. He observed from his experiments that the yellow body Huntington’s
colour allele (Y) was dominant and agouti allele (y) was recessive. The disease (HD): A fatal
crosses between two yellow mice (see Fig. 2.13) yielded approximately a 2:1 neurological disorder
ratio of yellow to agouti mice rather than the expected ratio of 3: 1. Further, which is dominant. It
when the yellow individuals (Yy) are crossed to the agouti (yy) Cuénot found is normally
manifested after the
that some agouti progeny are produced. He, therefore, concluded that yellow
age of thirty, but has
mice were heterozygous (Yy) and there were no yellow homozygotes (YY) in
been reported to
the progeny. Later, it was suggested that the yellow homozygotes were occur at all ages, HD
actually lethal, and they died while still in the uterus. It was found that is characterised by
1 mental and physical
approximately of the embryos from yellow by yellow crosses failed to
4 deterioration. There is
develop. Therefore, the observed ratio of phenotypes differs from the expected progressive change in
ratio, as they die very young - much before reaching the reproductive age. personality. As the
disease progresses,
the HD patients
demonstrate twitching
and uncontrollable
muscle spasms.
There is degeneration
of Central Nervous
System. (CNS) and
loss of brain cells.
This leads to fits of
depression, insanity
and suicide. At the
time of death, the
patients have lost
about 25 per cent of
their brain weight.

Fig. 2.13: A cross between two yellow mice, yielding a 2:1 ratio in the offspring. 63
 Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
Such lethals are by no means exceptional and must always be considered in
populations of plants and animals. Many lethals produce no pronounced effect
at all on the phenotype, but they may make their presence known by a
decrease in the life span or the very elimination of the carrier. It has been
estimated that each human carries, on the average, about six lethal alleles.

How can an allele have a killing action? This perhaps may be the question
arising in your mind. You may .remember that metabolism is the result of
many interlocked biochemical pathways. A defect in just one step can upset
several others. Just one defective step can alter the entire chemistry of the
body. A lethal, by blocking a critical reaction, can interfere with normal
embryological development of any organ, SAY heart. The death of embryo
may then follow. Lethals can thus decrease the chances of survival by causing
various kinds of abnormalities in development and physiology.

Different lethals eliminate individuals at different stages of the life cycle. The
complete lethal removes the carrier before the reproductive age so that those
affected have no offspring, e.g., the allele for yellow coat colour in mice; in
humans the recessive factor for Tay-Sachs disease which kills in infancy, In
humans, the dominant factor for Huntington's disease, a fatal, deterioration
of the nervous system, does not usually express itself before the age of 30.
Such genetic determinants which can result in death but permit the carrier to
live to reproductive age, are often grouped as sublethals. There is actually no
sharp boundary during the life cycle at which lethals act.

2.6 PLEIOTROPY
The action of a gene at the cellular level is unitary, that is, one gene one
Metabolic fate of phenylalanine action. Sometimes the presence of a gene results in a broad spectrum of
phenotypic changes, so that it appears that the gene has multiple action.
normal pathway phenylalanine This phenomenon is called pleiotropy, and is found primarily in higher
organisms where complex and interrelated developmental events occur.
enzyme phenylalanine
hydroxylase Many lethal alleles are pleiotropic. For example, the yellow coat colour in
mice, just discussed, is an allele that affects more than one character, that is,
converted to tyrosine it produces yellow colour of the coat in heterozygotes, and it also affects
survival, causing lethality in homozygotes. Another example of multiple effects
normal brain function is the gene affecting seed shape in garden peas; this gene also affects
(a)
starch grain morphology. In fact, many genes affect more than one trait.
PKU – double recessive Mendel also noticed that genes causing the flower colours, like violet and
pathway phenylalanine
white, also influenced seed colour and caused the presence or absence of
coloured areas on the leaves. This is due to pleiotropy as a single gene affects
lacks enzyme phenylalanine more than one character.
hydroxylase

Pleiotropic traits also occur in humans. One such disease is phenylketonoria,

converted to phenylpyruvic acid abbreviated as PKU. This occurs in individuals that are homozygous for a
→ urine
defective, recessive allele. The diseased people lack the enzyme necessary
for the metabolism of the amino acid phenylalanine. When normal and PKU
mental retardation
(b) individuals are compared, the level of phenylalanine is much higher in
diseased group. In addition to this basic biochemical difference, a number of
other features are seen in the untreated PKU patients, such as lower IQ,
64 similar head size and lighter hair.
Unit 2 Extension & Modifications of Mendelian Genetic Analysis-I
2.7 SEX-LIKED GENES
In the crosses we have discussed so far, it has not mattered which parent
carried a particular allele in question. Reciprocal crosses gave identical
results. For example, in all the Mendel's monohybrid crosses, F1 and F2 were
the same regardless of which P1 parent exhibited the recessive trait.

This, however, is not the case in crosses involving genes located on

chromosomes involved in the determination of sex. Such genes are said to be
sex-linked. The first thorough study of the sex-linked gene was conducted by
T.H. Morgan in 1910, when he was studying the inheritance of eye colour in
Drosophila. The wild-type flies have brick red eye colour. Morgan crossed
mutant white-eyed flies with red-eyed flies. He found that the result of a cross
between a white eyed male (rII) and red-eyed female (RIIR) were different
from those of a cross between white-eyed male. Both of these reciprocal
crosses are illustrated in Fig. 2.14. (crosses a and b).

Fig. 2.14: Crosses a and b 'illustrate inheritance of sex-linked genes in

Drosophila. a) is a cross between red-eyed female and white-eyed
male. And b) is the reciprocal cross of a). In the figure the long, rod-
shaped structure (I) represents the X-chromosome and the inverted J-
shaped structure (l) stands for the Y chromosome.

Compare the phenotypic ratios of F2 generations of cross a with b. Is there any

difference? Yes, there is a clear difference between the F2, individuals of the
two crosses. The phenotypic ratios thus depend on whether the P, white-eyed
parent was male and female. Morgan was able to correlate these observations
65
 Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
with a difference found in chromosome composition between male and female
Drosophila. It has four chromosomes and one of the chromosome varies
between sexes (see Fig. 2.15). This chromosome pair (see XX or XY in the
figure) is involved in sex determination mechanism and constitutes the sex
chromosomes. The remaining chromosomes are called autosomes. The
females possess two, rod-shaped homologs called the X chromosomes which
are designated as XX. Males possess a single X chromosome and J-shaped Y
chromosome, which are designated as XY.

On the basis of this correlation, Morgan postulated that the gene for white eye
is present on the X chromosome but is absent from the Y chromosome.
Females thus have two available genes, one on each X chromosome while
males have only one available gene on their single X-chromosome. 'This
explanation supposes that the Y chromosome lacks homologous loci to these
on the X chromosome. However, the X and Y chromosomes still behave as
homologues in that they do partially synapse with each other and segregate
into gametes during meiosis.
Many species, including humans, possess an arrangement of sex
chromosome as in Drosophila. Many sex-linked genes in humans have now
been identified, e.g., the gene controlling one form of haemophilia and
muscular dystrophy. We stop further discussion on this topic for the time being
and shall resume it in an elaborated manner in Unit 4, that is, Sex Linkage and
Dosage Compensation.

2.8 DEGREES OF GENE EXPRESSION

In observing offsprings from a cross, we tend to think of a phenotype in terms
of all or none of the phenomena. A trait is expressed or it is not - and we draw
conclusions as to what are the types of genotypes based on that form of
expression. While it is true that some phenotypes are always certain, such as,
Fig. 2.15: Chromosomes
in pea plants the genotype ss will produce always the wrinkled seeds.
composition in Similarly, all of the Mendel’s genes and all blood group types show an
Drosophila absolute arid clear cut pattern. However, for some genes, the expression is
melanogaster. variable.

2.8.1 Penetrance
Some individuals fail to slow particular trait, even though genetic analysis
indicates that the controlling gene for that trait must be present in them. This
aspect of gene action, that is the frequency with which a genotype is
expressed in the phenotype is called Penetrance. For example, out of the
eight individuals of a particular genotype, five express the diseased
phenotype. The penetrance is 5/8 = 0.625 or 62.5%.
A completely penetrant gene is always expressed; an incompletely
penetrant gene may be expressed in some individuals, but not in others.
Incomplete penetrance of a gene may cause a trait to skip a generation; that
is, a dominant trait present in a given generation may skip the first generation
but appear again in the second generation. Such a case is illustrated in Figure
2.16. It shows a human pedigree where unaffected individual II-4 is the
daughter as well as the mother of an affected individual each. This indicates
she has the genotype Aa, but because of incomplete penetration, does not
66 show the dominant phenotype.
Unit 2 Extension & Modifications of Mendelian Genetic Analysis-I

Fig. 2.16: A pedigree illustrating the pattern of phenotypes with an incompletely

penetrant dominant allele.

2.8.2 Expressivity
Expressivity refers to the intensity or range of expression of a trait in different
parts of the same individual or different individuals. This aspect of gene action
differs from penetrance in that it describes the level of phenotypic expression,
whereas penetrance refers to whether the phenotype is affected or not. Both
penetrance and expressivity originate from variations in the degree to which a
gene is manifested in the phenotype. These manifestations can be absent or
be so slight as to pass unnoticed; in such individuals, a trait would be
considered non-penetrant. However, when apparent in the phenotype, the
same trait may vary in its effects from mild to severe, in which case the trait
would be described as exhibiting not only variable penetrance, but variable
expressivity as well.

Let us consider the example of Drosophila. In this the recessive allele eyeless
(e) when present in homozygous condition causes a reduction in the size of
the compound eye. However, the extent to which the eye is reduced varies
considerably from individual to individual. In some, only slight decrease in eye
size occurs, while in others the eye may be completely absent. There are also
cases in which the fly has one normal eye and the other eye drastically
reduced in size. Phenotypic variation can also be observed in humans.
Polydactyly exhibits variable penetrance, it is also characterised by differences
in expressivity. In different individuals showing this trait, extra digits may be
present on the hands or on the feet or both hands and feet.

The source of this variation is partly genotypic and partly environmental. The
genotype contains thousands of genes, and the actions of many of them are
interrelated so as to modify one another's effects. For example, the level of
expression of a trait is generally more similar among relatives than among
unrelated individuals, provided that the relatives and unrelated individuals are
raised in fairly similar environments. Such genes that have secondary effect
on a trait are called modifier genes, and can sequentially influence the
phenotype. The modifier genes can be seen in animals like house cat, where a
'dilute allele' reduces the intensity of pigmentation from black to grey. Another
example of modifier genes is seen in D. melanogaster mutants when these are
kept in laboratory culture for many years, sometimes they do not have as
extreme a phenotype as was first observed. 67
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
2.9 SUMMARY
Let us sum up what we have learnt in this unit:

• The dominance is a phenomenon of suppression of expression of one

allele by another. The allele that is able to express its phenotype is
called dominant, while the one whose expression is suppressed is called
recessive.

• In heterozygous condition, i.e. when the dominant and recessive alleles

occur together, if an intermediate phenotype appears due to blending of
traits of both alleles, it is called incomplete dominance.

• Further in heterozygous condition if the phenotype of both dominant and

recessive alleles express equally, the phenomenon is called co-
dominance.

• Certain phenotypes are controlled by more than two alleles, known as

multiple alleles, for example the range of coat colour phenotype in
rabbits, ABO blood groups in humans and self- incompatibility in plants.

• There are some non-allelic gene interactions which may give rise to new
phenotypes and are exemplified by modified mendelian ratios. These
are complementary gene interaction, epistasis, supplementary gene
interaction and duplicate genes.

• In complementary gene interaction, neither of the two dominant alleles of

complimentary gene pair is able to produce the phenotype alone. At
least one dominant allele from both the gene pairs is required to produce
the concerned phenotype. The F2 phenotypic ratio in this case is 9:7.

• In another kind of gene interaction, one gene masks the expression of

other non-allelic gene, known as epistasis. If the epistatic gene is
dominant, it is called dominant epistasis, while if the masking action is
due to a recessive gene, it is called recessive epistasis. The F2
phenotypic ratio in both the cases is 12:3:1 and 9:3:4 respectively.

• The gene interaction similar to recessive epistasis is supplementary

gene action in which a dominant gene is able to express its character,
while another non allelic dominant gene is able to express itself only in
presence of the first one. The F2 phenotypic ratio in this case also is
12:3:1.

• A non-allelic gene interaction is observed in which the presence of any

one dominant allele of the two gene pairs also produces a phenotype
and the mutant phenotype appears only in double homozygous
recessive condition.

2.10 TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1. Discuss the genetic basis of seed shape in peas.

2. State reason for appearance of pink flowers as an intermediate

68 phenotype in Mirabilis Jalapa.
Unit 2 Extension & Modifications of Mendelian Genetic Analysis-I
3. How is co-dominance different from incomplete dominance?

4. Explain the occurence of a range of coat colour phenotypes in rabbits.

5. Predict the blood group of a child if blood group of mother is ‘AB’ and
that of father is ‘O’.

6. Explain the clinical significance of Rh antigens in human blood.

7. Describe the role of multiple alleles in self-incompatibility in plants.

8. Explain the complimentary gene action with example.

9. Explain the phenomenon of masking the expression of gene by another

in epitasis.

10. Do you opine that the phenomena of recessive epistasis and

supplementary gene interaction are same or different, explain.

11. Attribute the reason to obtain F2 phenotypic ratio 15:1 in appearance of

awn character in rice.

2.11 ANSWERS

Self Assessment Questions

1. i) recessive, ii) dominance, iii) co-dominance.

2. i) T, ii) T, iii) F, iv) F.

3. a) v, b) iv, c) i, d) ii, e) iii.

Terminal Questions

1. Refer to Sub-Section 2.2.1.

2. Refer to Sub-Section 2.2.2.

3. Refer to Sub-Section 2.2.3.

4. Refer to Section 2.3.

5. Refer to Section 2.3.1

6. Refer to Sub-Section 2.3.2.

7. Refer to Sub-Section 2.3.3.

8. Refer to Sub-Section 2.4.1.

9. Refer to Sub-Section 2.4.2.

10. Refer to Sub-Section 2.4.3.

11. Refer to Sub-Section 2.4.4. 69

Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
FURTHER READINGS
1. Principles of Genetics by Gardner, Simmons, Snustad, 8thedition – John
Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2003.

2. Genetics: a Conceptual Approach, 3rdedition, Peter J. Russell. Pub: WH

Freeman & Co.

3. Genetics: Principles and Analysis, 4thedition. D.L. Hartl, D.W. Jones.

Pub: Jones and Barlett Publishers

4. Genetics, 9threvised multicolor edition. P.S. Verma & V.K. Agarwal. Pub:
S. Chand & Co.

Acknowledgement of Figures
Fig. 2.1: http://legacy.biotechlearn.org.nz/layout/set/lightbox/themes/
mendel_and_inheritance/mendel_s_principles_of_inheritance

Fig. 2.3: https://biologywise.com/codominance-explained-with-examples

Fig. 2.4: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/bio1/chapter/reading-multiple-

alleles/

Fig. 2.5: http://www.eplantscience.com/index/genetics/multiple_alleles_

based_on_classical_concept_of_allelomorphism/skin_colour
_in_rodents.php

Fig. 2.6: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/microbiology/chapter/

hypersensitivities/

Fig. 2.7: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/microbiology/chapter/

hypersensitivities/

Fig. 2.9: http://www.biologydiscussion.com/genetics/gene-interactions/gene-

interactions- allelic-and-non-allelic-cell-biology/38795

Fig. 2.10: http://www.biologydiscussion.com/genetics/gene-interactions/ gene-

interactions -allelic-and-non-allelic-cell-biology/38795

Fig. 2.12: http://www.biologydiscussion.com/genetics/gene-interactions/top-6-

types-of-epistasis -gene-interaction/37818

70
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping

UNIT 3
LINKAGE,
LINKAGE, CROSSING
CROSSINGOVER
AND CHROMOSOME
MAPPING

Structure
3.1 Introduction 3.4 Chromosome Mapping

Expected Learning Outcomes Three-Point Crosses

3.2 Linkage Interference and Coincidence

Discovery of Linkage 3.5 Why Didn’t Mendel Find

Linkage?
3.3 Crossing-Over
3.6 Summary
The Concept of Crossing-Over
3.7 Terminal Questions
When does Crossing-Over
Occur? 3.8 Answers

Cytological Basis of Crossing-

Over

Molecular Mechanism of
Crossing-Over

3.1 INTRODUCTION
The independent assortment of genes during meiosis at the time of gamete
formation, is one of the fundamental processes of genetics. There are,
however, situations where independent assortment of certain genes does not
occur. These genes are transmitted together enblock because they are
located on the same chromosome. Genes which are located on the same
chromosome and transmitted together are called linked genes and are said to
belong to a linkage group. Since it is the chromosome and not the gene which
is the unit of transmission at meiosis, linked genes are not free to undergo
independent assortment. How does one determine as to which genes on a
chromosome are linked together? Test crosses are useful for identifying linked
gene. This knowledge of linked genes and linkage group are used to construct
a linkage map or genetic map of each chromosome. 71
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
The information obtained from genetic mapping is very useful in many aspects
of genetic analysis. For example, chromosome maps can tell us whether
certain genes that produce a particular phenotype are located together on the
same chromosome. The knowledge thus obtained can be used in
understanding; the regulation of gene expression in an organism; the DNA
sequences in and around a particular set of genes, and it can also be applied
to DNA recombinant research/technology.

In many instances, the linked genes, contrary to the expectations, may not be
transmitted together. This is because, during the first meiotic prophase when
homologous chromosomes undergo pairing, there is a reciprocal exchange of
chromosome segments. This process is known as crossing-over. Crossing-
over is responsible for the non-transmission of linked genes together and
generation of recombinants.

In this unit you would learn about the concept of linkage, the evidence for the
physical exchange of chromosome segments (crossing-over) resulting in
recombination, and the construction of genetic map of a chromosome.

Objectives
After studying this unit you should be able to:

explain the concept of genetic linkage and the basic terminology

involved,

contrast between linked and unlinked genes giving examples,

state the importance of testcross in understanding/detecting linkage,

describe the experiments of Bateson et al. and of Morgan, and relate

how their analyses contributed to the development of the concept of
linkage,

describe the cis-, and trans-configuration of linked genes, and show

how these affect the phenotypic ratios,

identify from a given data, whether it is a case of linkage,

describe the concept of crossing-over highlighting its main features;

describe the cytological basis of crossing-over,

illustrate the molecular mechanisms of crossing-over,

explain how linkage maps are constructed, and their utility in genetic
analysis,

comment on why Mendel did not find linkage in his experiments with
pea, and

solve genetic problems involving linkage, crossing-over and gene

72 36
mapping.
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping
3.2 LINKAGE
All organisms have a large number of genes, their number being much more
than the number of chromosomes. All genes on the same chromosome do not
assort independently and therefore, provide another exception to Mendel’s
laws of inheritance. Genes whose patterns of inheritance deviate from that of
independent assortment are often linked.

You have already studied about a dihybrid cross between a true-breeding

strain of peas with round, yellow seeds (SSYY) and one with wrinkled, green
seeds (ssyy). Independent assortment during gamete formation in the F1
hybrid (SsYy) is expected to yield four types of gametes in equal proportions
(SY, Sy, sY and sy), resulting in four phenotypes in the F1 progeny in ratios of
9:3:3:1. But if parental association of alleles (i.e., S with Y, and s with y) are
maintained during gamete formation in F1 hybrid, only two types of gametes
would be produced ; SY and sy. In other words, the genes for seed shape and
seed colour would be completely linked in the F2 progeny and would then be
round, yellow seeds (SSYY and SsYy) and wrinkled, green seeds (ssyy) in a
phenotypic ratio 3:1. You should note a point here that the individuals of F2
progeny are classified as round, yellow seeds or wrinkled, green seeds based
on their phenotypes. Complete linkage of these genes makes it appear that
round-yellow and wrinkled-green are inherited as single trait.

One of the most preferred methods to study linkage is by making test crosses
in which one parent is homozygous for the recessive genes under study. The
phenotypes of progeny in a test cross directly reflect the gametic types
produced by the heterozygous parent. Figure 3.1 shows the use of test cross
for studying independent assortment and complete linkage.

In the first case, where the independent assortment of alleles of two genes
occurs, the four phenotypes are produced in equal numbers. Two classes of
progeny exhibit the same association of alleles as seen in the parents (a+b+
and ab), and the other two classes of progeny exhibit new (recombinant)
association of alleles (a+b and ab+). If parental-type and recombinant-type
progeny occur in equal numbers, the genes a and b assort independently
during meiosis in the heterozygous parent, and are said to be not linked. The
recombination frequency between the two genes is defined as the summed
frequency of recombinant types among the total progeny (In the example
shown in Fig. 3.1 it is 50/100 = 0.50 or 50%). Independent assortment is
characterised by a recombination frequency of 50% and may indicate that the
two genes possibly reside on different chromosomes.

In the second case shown in Fig. 3.1, the complete association of alleles of
two genes results in two genotypes among the progeny of a test cross. These
progeny exhibit genotypes as those of the parents. Such complete linkage
also indicates that the two genes may be located on the same chromosome. 73
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

Fig. 3.1: Progeny genotypes from a test cross involving alleles of two genes a
and b. The observed number of each progeny genotype are those
expected among 100 progeny if (i) genes a and b assort independently,
ab
or (ii) they are completely linked. The bar ( ) separates alleles of
a+b+
one homolog from those of the other.

In the above test cross (Fig. 3.1), we have not considered in a test cross
whether the tester (homozygous, recessive) is the ♀ parent or ♂ parent. We
shall now examine two situations: one in which the ♀ parent is the tester and
the ♂ parent is doubly heterozygous (Fig. 3.2); and the second in which ♂
parent is the tester and the ♀ parent is doubly heterozygous (Fig. 3.3). In
these two crosses we shall see if there are any differences in the ratios of
progenies of these two test crosses.

The first cross in Drosophila (Fig. 3.2) shows complete linkage of the
recessive autosomal traits for black body (b) and purple eyes (pr). When the
male is the double heterozygous parent, and there is complete linkage, then
only sperms with the parental combinations of alleles are produced and
transmitted to the progeny resulting in half black-body, purple-eyed flies, and
half wild-type files. Recombinations of parental alleles are not observed, so no
black-body normal eye files, or normal-body purple eye flies are produced.
The data shown in the Fig. 3.2 indicates that in a cross where is ♀ the tester
and is doubly heterozygous, the progeny exhibits parental phenotypes which
74 36
indicates the occurrence of complete linkage in this case.
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping

Fig. 3.2: A test cross with F1 progeny of Drosophila in which ♀ is the

homozygous recessive (tester) and ♂ is the doubly heterozygous
parent. Complete linkage is observed.

In the second cross in Drosophila (see Fig. 3.3) four types of progeny are
observed; two parental types (black body, purple eyes; and wild type) and two
recombinant types (black body, normal eyes; and normal body, purple eyes).
There are the four types of progeny one would expect, if the genes for body
colour eye colour segregate independently. However, the observed ratio of
14 + 16 30
recombinant to parental types = is very different from that
210 + 240 450
120 + 120 240
expected for independent ( = ).
120 + 120 240

Such a deviation from the ratio expected for independent assortment indicates
there is linkage but is partial and not complete. The degree of linkage
exhibited in such a cross (showing partial or incomplete linkage) is measured
by the frequency of recombination. The recombination frequency in this case
is 30/480 = 0.0625 or 6.25%. The unlinked genes, or the ones assorting
independently exhibit a recombination frequencies of 50% (240/480 = 0.50 =
50%). 75
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

Fig. 3.3: A test cross with the F1 progeny of Drosophila in which the ♂ parent is
homozygous recessive and the ♀ parent is doubly heterozygous. Partial
linkage is observed.

So far we have discussed the concept of linkage explaining the basic

terminology involved. We would now review two pioneering works: one by
Bateson, Saunders and Punnett and the other by Morgan, which
demonstrated linkage experimentally.

3.2.1 Discovery of Linkage

Partial Linkage in Sweet Pea: The effects of linkage were first evident in the
results of dihybrid cross in sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) that were reported
by W Bateson, E. Saunders and R.C. Punnett in 1905. This cross is
represented diagrammatically in Fig. 3.4.

Fig. 3.4: The Bateson, Saunders and Punnett cross. The expected numbers of
the F2 plants are calculated on the basis of the same total number of
progeny (6952) and the 9:3:3:1 ratio obtained in a dihybrid cross by
76 36
Mendel.
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping
The sweet peas with purple flowers and long pollen grain (PPLL) were crossed
with red-flowered plants with round pollen grains (ppll). Nothing was unusual
about the F1 progeny as all were purple and long (PpLl), showing these to be
dominant traits. When the F1 was inbred and each pair of alleles was
examined separately, each one showed segregation like the Mendelian genes,
that is, purple and red flowers were present in a 3:1 ratio, so were the long and
round pollen traits.

But when the traits were considered together, then partial linkage was seen.
Among the 6952 F2 plants, 4831 were purple long (P-L-); 390 were purple,
round (P-ll) 393 were red, long (ppL-); and 1338 were red, round (ppll).
Compare in the Fig. 3.4, numbers of plants obtained with the expected
numbers. You can see that this was predicted about independently assorting
genes. If these two traits had been located on different chromosomes, perhaps
we would have got a 9:3:3:1 ratio of these F2 progeny. In other words, 3915
purple, long; 1305 purple, round; 1305, red, long; and 435 red, round.

The data in Fig. 3.4 clearly shows that the two traits did not show complete
linkage, had they done so a 3:1 ratio or 5214 purple, long and 1738, red,
round progeny would have been expected. This clearly was a case of partial
linkage. However, Bateson, Saunders and Punnett did not interpret their
results in terms of behaviour of genes located on the same chromosome of
linkage. Thomas Hunt Morgan was the first to relate linkage to the segregation
of homologous chromosomes, and the occurrence of crossing-over between
homologous chromosomes during meiosis. Morgan’s interpretation of linkage
was published in 1911 in a paper, where he reported the results of crosses
involving linked genes in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Many of our
current concepts of linkage, crossing-over, and chromosome mapping have
evolved from the work of Morgan and his students; C.B. Bridges; H.J. Muller
and A.H. Sturtevant.

Morgan’s Linkage Experiments with Drosophila: Morgan demonstrated the

effects of linkage by two genes located on the second chromosome of D.
melanogaster (see Fig. 3.5 and 3.6). In both these crosses, the recessive
gene b in homozygous condition results in black colour of the body. The
presence of its dominant allele b+ results in grey bodies. The second gene
affects the phenotypes of the wings. The recessive allele vg in homozygous
condition results in vestigial or underdeveloped wings (Fig. 3.7b); and its
dominant allele vg+ leads to the development of long normal wings (Fig. 3.7a).

First let US consider a cross (Fig. 3.5) between homozygous flies with long
wings and grey bodies and homozygous flies with vestigial wings and black
bodies. This cross produces F1, flies with long wings and grey bodies. In the
progeny of this test cross, 82 per cent exhibited one or the other (41 per cent
each) of the parental combinations of traits. The other 18 per cent of the
progeny have new or recombinant combinations.

Next study, the second cross as shown in Fig.3.6. This cross is between
homozygous flies with long wings and black bodies and homozygous flies with
vestigial wings and grey bodies. In this cross, 82 per cent of the test cross
progeny have parental phenotypes, i.e., phenotypes identical to one or the
other original parent and 18 per cent had new or recombinant phenotypes. 77
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
From the results of these experiments three points emerge: First, we find that
in the progeny of the F1 test cross in both the cases, the original parental
combinations (long wings, grey body and vestigial wings, black body in the first
cross – Fig. 3.5; long wings, black body and vestigial wings, grey body in the
second cross – Fig. 3.6) are the most prominent phenotypes in the F2. As we
have seen in the sweet pea experiments, an excess of parental phenotypes in
the F2 generation, strongly suggests the presence of linked genes.

Second, in both the crosses, the F1 flies are phenotypically same, that is, they
all have long wings, grey bodies (see Figs. 3.5 and 3.6). But on comparing the
test cross progeny of the F1 female flies in the two crosses, we can see that
they contain very different frequencies of the four phenotypic classes. For
example, in the 1st cross (Fig. 3.5), 41% of the testcross progeny show long
wings, grey body phenotype and in the 2nd cross (Fig. 3.6) only 9% progeny
show this phenotype.

You should note that, so far we are only looking at this point from the
phenotypic angle. Let us now examine it from the viewpoint of arrangement of
genes on the chromosomes. We break this discussion here, to quickly look
into the basic terminology regarding gene arrangement. We shall resume our
discussion after that.

Fig. 3.5: A cross between parents with long wings grey bodies and vestigial
wings, black bodies. A test cross with the F1 individual shows 82%
78 36
parental and 18 recombinant phenotypes.
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping

Fig. 3.6: A cross between parents with long wings black bodies and vestigial
wings grey bodies. Just like the previous cross, the F1 individuals show
82% parental and 18% recombinant phenotypes.

Arrangement of Genes: In the cross shown in Fig. 3.5, the F1 flies carry the
alleles (vi+b+) on one homolog, and the recessive alleles (vg b) on the other
homolog. The genotype of the F1 heterozygote of this type is usually written
as:

vg+ / vg b or simply vg+ / vg b.

This arrangement of genes, i.e., dominants on one homolog and the

recessives on the other, is called coupling state or cis-configuration. The
alternate arrangement as shown in Fig. 3.6, where in the F1 heterozygote,
each homolog contains one dominant and one recessive gene such as vg+/vg
b+. This is called the repulsion state or trans-configuration. Fig. 3.7: Drosophila
phenotypes a)
We now resume our discussion. We were discussing the reason why we get
Normal wings, b)
different percentages of a particular phenotype, in the two crosses. You have Vestigial wings.
seen above, though phenotypically the F1 heterozygotes are same, but they
show different arrangement of genes in the two cases. In the cross in Fig. 3.5,
it is cis arrangement- vg+b+ / vg b, whereas in the other case (Fig. 3.6) it is
trans arrangement – vg+b / vg b+. The arrangement of the genes on the
homologs, too is an important factor. This is precisely the reason for
occurrence of different ratios of a particular phenotype (long wings, grey body
example discussed here). 79
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
Another important feature of the two crosses just described is that regardless
of whether the cross was done in cis (coupling, Fig. 3.5) or in trans (repulsion,
Fig. 3.6) – the F1 flies produced gametes 185 of which carried recombinant
combinations and 82% were parental.

Third, Morgan also interpreted the results of these two crosses on the basis of
physical phenomenon that were actually taking place. He interpreted these
experiments in context of a study of meiosis in Salamender made by F.
Janssens in 1909. Janssens had described chiasmata (Fig. 3.7) and
suggested that these might represent sites of physical exchange between
maternal and paternal homologues. Morgan hence proposed that partial
linkage was observed whenever two markers in the same chromosome were
separated from one another by a chiasma. He coined the term crossing-over
for this process.

SAQ 1
Given below are five chromosomes (1-5) each having one or more genes.
Observe them carefully and answer the following questions:

a) Fill in the blanks:

i) The genes A, B, and C are ……………. genes.

ii) The genes D, E, F and G are …………..genes.

iii) The genes H and I too are …………….genes.

b) How many linkage groups are seen in the above figure?

c) Write the linkage groups that are shown in the figure.

d) Write a statement that explains the situation in 1 to 5.

SAQ 2
Given below are three crosses – a, b and c. Study them carefully and answer
the following questions.

a) Cross a

i) The genes in meiotic gametes are ……………… .

ii) The phenotypic ratio of F2 is ………………….. .

iii) The genotypic ratio of F2 is ……………………. .

80 36
iv) This cross shows ………………………… .
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping
b) Cross b

i) The genes in meiotic gametes are …………… .

ii) F1 inbreeding shows a special feature that is …………… .

iii) The F2 genotypes constitute basically …………. Classes of

individuals that are ………….. and ………….. .

iv) This cross shows ……………… .

c) Cross c

i) The genes in meiotic gametes are ………….. .

ii) The F1 progeny is ……………… .

iii) The phenotypic ratio of F2 progeny is …………… .

iv) This cross shows …………….. .

SAQ 3
Which one of the following arrays represents the cis-configuration of the
alleles A and B?

ab aB
or
AB Ab
81
 Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
3.3 CROSSING-OVER
Crossing-over is a physical exchange between chromatids in a pair of
homologous chromosomes. It results in a new association of genes in the
same chromosome. The role of crossing-over is important for evolution to take
place. In fact, crossing-over and independent assortment are
mechanisms that produce new combinations of genes. Natural selection
can then act to preserve those combinations that produce organisms with
maximum fitness, that is, maximum probability of perpetuation of the
genotype.

3.3.1 The Concept of Crossing-Over

Following are the important features of crossing-over:
i) A gene is located on chromosomes at a particular site called a locus
(plural-loci). The loci of the genes on a chromosomes are arranged in a
linear sequence.
ii) In a heterozygote, the two alleles of a gene occupy corresponding
positions in the homologous chromosomes, that is, allele A occupies the
same position in homolog 1 that allele a occupies of a species is fixed or
Fig. 3.8: Diagram constant.
illustrating the
iii) Crossing-over involves the breakage and rejoining of two chromatids (of
occurrence of crossing-
over between two homologous chromosomes), resulting in reciprocal exchange of equal
chromatids of and corresponding segment between them (Fig. 3.8).
homologous
iv) Chromosomes with recombined or new combinations of genes are
chromosomes. The
formed by the occurrence of crossing-over.
exchange between two
of the four chromatids v) Crossing-over occurs more or less at random along the length of a
results in two chromosome pair. Thus, the probability of its occurrence between two
recombinants and two
genes increases with increasing physical separation of the genes along
parental combinations
at meiosis. the chromosome.

3.3.2 When does Crossing-Over Occur?

Crossing-over begins at pachytene stage, after the synapsis of the
homologous chromosomes has occurred in zygotene stage of prophase-I of
meiosis. Since chromosome replication occurs during interphase, meiotic
crossing-over occurs in the post-replication four strand or tetrad stage. That is,
after each chromosome has doubled such that four chromatids are present for
each pair of homologous chromosomes.

3.3.3 Cytological Basis of Crossing-Over

Based on his results (Fig. 3.5 and 3.6), Morgan suggested that recombinations
are formed as a result of pairing of homologous chromosomes during meiosis.
A physical exchange of chromosome part takes place by a process called
crossing-over. In the germs cells of many organisms at the time of meiosis,
one can actually see certain cross-shaped structures in which two of the four
chromatids of homologous chromosome pairs appear to exchange parts (see
Fig. 3.8). These cross-shaped structures are called Chiasmata (singular
82 36
Chiasma).
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping
The first direct evidence that relates the occurrence of physical exchange
between chromosomes to the genetic recombination was provided by C. Stern
(1931) in Drosophila, and by H.B. Creighton and B. McClintock in maize.
Normally, the two chromosomes constituting a homologous pair are
morphologically, alike and are therefore, indistinguishable. But Stern,
Creighton and McClintock, however, found ‘homologs’ that were not alike, and
could be easily distinguished. Because at their ends they carried distinct
morphological features that made them easily observable (see Figs. 3.9 and
3.12). These chromosomes are homologous along most of their Iength but
differed in a small portion only. They, however, paired and segregated
normally during meiosis. These structural alterations of the chromosomes
permitted the microscopic recognition of parental and recombinant
chromosomes. We shall now briefly discuss the experimental work carried out
by Stern (in Drosophila) and McClintock (in maize using these genetic
markers. Fig. 3.9: Outline diagram
showing the special
Stern discovered two X chromosomes in a Drosophila female strain that had features of the X
undergone structural changes, that made them distinguishable from each chromosome, that were
other and from a normal X chromosome. One X chromosome had part of a Y used in Stern’s
experiments.
chromosome attached to one end. The second X chromosome was shorter
than normal, as its piece had broken off, and was translocated to one of the
small, fourth chromosome (Fig. 3.9). These female flies were heterozygous for
alleles of two genes located on the X chromosome. One gene affects eye
shape, and other eye colour. The recessive allele car of the first gene results
in carnation coloured eyes; its dominant allele car+ yield red eyes. The
dominant mutant allele B of the second gene results in bar-shaped eyes (Fig.
3.10) and the recessive allele B+ produces round eyes (Fig. 3.10b) when
homozygous. The females used in Stem’s study carried the allelic pairs in Cis-
configuration (see Fig. 3.9 and 3.11). Stern crossed such heterozygous
females with males having carnation-coloured, round eyes, i.e., car B+ males.
The cross and results Stem obtained are shown in Fig. 3.11. Cross a shows a
situation where meiosis without crossing-over occurs during the gamete
formation. And in cross b, there is meiosis with crossing-over between the car Fig. 3.10: Two
and B loci, during gamete formation in the female parent. The male Drosophila phenotypes of eye
is unique as no crossing-over takes place. Now, look at the figure carefully. shape in Drosophila. a)
normal, round yes. b)
Stern analysed the genotypes of the progeny to see whether there were only bar-shaped eyes.
recombinations (see Cross b). Not only did he find the recombinant gene types
but also found that the alleles on the X chromosomes of each recombinant
progeny were precisely the same as predicted if crossing-over had occurred.
For example, the recombinant male progeny with the bar-shaped red eyes
(car+ B/Y) were found to carry the short X chromosomes, but now with the
translocated piece of the Y chromosome at one end (see Cross b, 4). The
male flies with normal-shaped, carnation eyes (car B+/Y) contained long X
chromosomes, but without the attached piece of the Y chromosome (see
Cross b, 2).

You should note that the male flies were analysed and classified as a
particular type on the basis of their phenotypes - the new combinations of the
two phenotypic characteristics. The progeny had parental combinations of
these traits. And also the progeny flies had X chromosomes that were
produced by a cross-over event between the car and B loci. 83
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

Fig. 3.11: The classic experiment in linkage, by Stern demonstrating that cross-
over involves interchange of parts of homologous chromosomes. The
cross b indicates the occurrence of crossing-over between the car and
B loci. The knob-like structurs on the chromosomes represent the
centromere. You can see in the figure that the X chromosomes in the
female parent are morphologically distinguishable. The short one on
the left is missing the distal end, its homolog (one the right) has an
extra piece of Y chromosome attached to the centromere end, which is
shown here as a horizontal zig-zagged line.

Creighton and McClintock also experimentally demonstrated that there was a

correlation between crossing-over and exchange of homologous
chromosomes. They made crosses involving two loci on chromosome 9 and
analysed their results. On this chromosome one gene controls aleurone colour
Fig. 3.12:
(C - coloured; c - colourless) and the other controlled the type of carbohydrate
Chromosomes 9 of
maize, showing a in the endosperm (Wx-starchy; wx-waxy). They made use of a chromosome
knob at one end and with densely staining knob at one end and a translocated piece from
a translocated piece chromosome 8, at the other end (see Fig. 3.12). These two features made the
at the distal end. chromosome visually identifiable.
Note, the genes are
arranged in trans- They made a cross between heterozygous female – coloured, starchy and a
configuration. males – colourless, starchy, and examined their progeny. The entire cross is
illustrated in Fig. 3.13. Note the arrangement of alleles and cytological markers
in the unique parent (Fig. 3.12). If cross-over occurs in this parent then the
arrangement of alleles changes (see Fig. 3.14). Now examine the phenotypes
of the recombinant (cross-over) offspring (cross b). This shows a new
phenotype - colourless, waxy. Creighton and McClintock on observing this
84 36
new phenotype found a rearrangement of the cytological markers.
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping

Fig. 3.13: Cross between heterozygote female and male with colourless
aleurone, starchy endosperm in maize.

Both the above experiments provide cytological proof of crossing-over and leave no
doubt that an actual physical exchange between homologs occurs during crossing-
over.

These two experiments by Stem and by Creighton and MdClintock are

classics in genetic studies. They confirmed Morgan's hypothesis that
crossing-over involves the interchange of parts of homologous
chromosomes. They also provided strong evidence that genes are located
on chromosomes. Fig. 3.14: Chromosome
of maize, after crossing
3.3.4 Molecular Mechanism of Crossing-Over over between the C and
Wx loci. Now the genes
The classic experiments of Stern, and Creighton and McClintock confirmed the are arranged in cis-
configuration from the
correlation between the formation of recombinants and crossing-over, but still
earlier trans-
several questions remained to be answered, one of them was the nature of
configuration.
crossing-over.

A cross-over as you have seen above (Fig. 3.8) involves a reciprocal, physical
exchange between homologous chromosomes. This suggests that a reciprocal
exchange essentially occurs between the double helices of the DNA
molecules found in each non-sister chromatids. For this process to take place,
two homologus chromosomes come close to one another. In eukaryotes,
crossing-over has been associated with the formation of a structure (or set of
structures) called the synaptonemal complex (Fig. 3.15) which forms during
prophase of the first meiotic division. This structure is composed primarily of 85
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
proteins and RNA, and has been identified in a large number of eukaryotic
species. Very little information is available about the functions of the various
components of the synaptonemal complex. It is known that small amount of
DNA synthesis occurs at the time when the synaptonemal complex forms. This
amount, however, is very small and is equivalent or even less than 1 per cent
of the total DNA in the genome. It is believed that this DNA synthesis is
involved in synapsis and/or crossing-over.

Fig. 3.15: Diagrammatic representation of the synaptonemal complex in

Neottiella rutilans (Ascomycetes). A dense, central component is
surrounded by a less dense space; together these make up the central
region which is about 1000A in width. The lateral components each
about 500 A in width are present on each side of the central region.
The two homologous chromosomes are juxtaposed to the two lateral
elements. (Redrawn from: M. Westergaard and D. Von Wett Stein, 1972
Ann. Rev. Genet. 6 : 71-110.

To explain the mechanism of crossing-over at molecular level, a number of

models based on breakage and reunion of a DNA molecule have been
proposed. The breakage of two homologous chromatids and the reunion of the
parts in new arrangements (recombination) is the main feature of these
models. One model for eukaryotic DNA recombination that survives was
proposed by Robin Holliday in 1964. The important features of this model are
illustrated in Fig. 3.16. This pathway begins when an endonuclease cleaves
single strands of each of the two parental DNA molecules (breakage).
Segments of the single strands on one side of each cut are displaced from
their complementary, strands. In this process DNA-binding proteins, helix
destabilisation proteins, and DNA unwinding proteins or DNA helicases are
also said to be involved.

The displaced strands then exchange pairing partners; base-pairing with the
intact complementary strands of the homologous chromosomes. This process
is also aided by certain proteins such as rec A protein. The rec A protein
mediates such a reaction by binding to the unpaired strand of DNA, searching
for a homologous DNA sequence. A homologous double helix is found,
promoting the displacement of a segment of one strand of the double helix by
86 36
the unpaired strand.
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping

Fig. 3.16: Pathway for the occurrence of crossing-over by breakage and reunion
based on the model of Robin Holliday. 1) shows two homologs 1 and
2. Homolog 1 carrying A and B genes and homolog 2 carrying a and b,
genes. 2) Initiation of cuts on single stands due to endonuclease 3)
displacement of one side of the free ends of the cuts, with the help of
DNA binding, helix-destabilisation, and/or DNA-unwinding proteins, 4)
The cleaved single strand of homolog 1 base-pairs with the
complementary intact strand of homolog 2 and vice versa. 5) The
cleaved strands are then rejoined in recombinant combinations by
single stranded bridge, by the enzyme DNA ligase. 6) and 7) X- shaped
intermediates also known as Holliday intermediate or chi forms [after
the Greek letter chi (x)] in different planar views. 8) The intact strands
are cleaved at the intersection by endonuclease, and stage 9) is
formed. Covalent closure of single stranded interruptions yields the
intact recombinant chromosomes as shown in (10). 87
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
The cleaved strands are then covalently joined in recombinant arrangements
(reunion) by the enzyme DNA ligase. If the original breaks in the two strands do
not occur at exactly the same site in the two homologs some “tailoring” will be
required before DNA ligase catalyses the reunion process. This tailoring
involves excision of a limited number of bases by an exonuclease and repair
synthesis by a DNA polymerase. By this time an X-shaped recombination
intermediate called a “chi” form or Holliday intermediate is formed. Such
intermediates have been observed by electron microscopy (see Fig. 3.17) in
several prokaryotic systems. A similar sequence of enzyme catalysed
breakage and reunion events, involving the other two single strands, occurs to
complete the process of crossing-over.
Fig. 3.17: Outline
diagram of x-shaped A current model that accounts for the formation of parentals as well as
recombinant recombinants is shown in Fig. 3.18. It is based on the works in several
intermediate as seen laboratories including those of Meselson and Radding (1975); Potter and
under the electron
microscope.
Dressier (1976); and Das Gupta et al. (1981). Up to stage 7, that is till the
formation of “chi form” or Holliday intermediate, it is the same as the Holliday
model described above. The difference is 'from stage 8 onwards.

The joined homologs are separated from each other by endonuclease attack
on either pair of opposite strands (see 8a, b). Following the endonuclease
cleavages, the strands separate. Each strand contains a small gap in one
strand of DNA, that is, closed by the action of the ligase. Which pair of strands
is cleaved determines whether the molecules are recombinants or not. If the
two strands are cleaved on the sides then the parentals — AB and ab are
formed (9a, 10a). And if the cleavage occurs on top and bottom, then
recombinants — Ab and aB (9b, 10b) are formed.

Along with the modifications of the above model, evidences have accumulated
that indicate homologous recombination occurs by more than one mechanism
— very possibly by several different mechanisms. A double-strand break
model was proposed by Szoztak et al. in (1983). The major difference
between this model and the Holliday model is that, recombination is mediated
by a double-strand break in one of the parental double helices, not by just
single-strand breaks (see Fig. 3.19). These initial breaks in the two strands are
enlarged further and gaps are formed in both the strands. The two single-
stranded termini produced at the double stranded gap of the broken double
helix invade the intact double helix, displacing the homologous strand in this
region. Repair DNA synthesis then takes place filling the gaps using
complementary strands of the other chromosome as templates. This process
yields a recombination intermediate with the two double helices joined by two
single-stranded bridges (chi structures). The bridges are resolved by
endonuclease cleavages by the same process as for chi structures formed by
the Holliday mechanism. This model, like the Holliday model, explains the
production of chromosomes that are recombinant for genetic markers flanking
88 36
the region in which cross-over occurs.
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping

Fig. 3.18: Uptil stage (7) it is the same as Fig. 3.12 (Robin Holliday's model). In
(8) there are two possibilities, first, endonuclease acts on sides (see
8a) resulting in nonrecombinants or parentals (9a and 10s). Second, if
endonuclease nicks the opposite end then recombinant; (9b and 10b)
are formed. 89
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

Fig. 3.19: A double-strand-break model of recombination (1-3) Gaps are

produced in two strands of DNA of one chromosome (homolog 1) by
sequential endonuclease and exonuclease activities. (4) the free
single-stranded ends formed at the gaps invade the second DNA
molecule (homolog 2) and with the help of rec A type proteins, and
helicase displace the homologous strand of the intact double helix. (5)
the gaps are filled by repair synthesis of DNA using the
complementary strands of the intact, but locally unwound, double
helix as templates. Ligation produces two double helices joined at two
sites by single-stranded bridges (chi structures). (6) the bridges are
resolved by the action of endonucleases, with subsequent rejoining
catalysed by. DNA ligase, and the recombinant chromosomes are;
produced (From Gardner et al. 1991 John Wiley and Sons Inc, New
90 36
York.
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping

SAQ 4
a) When does chiasmata formation and crossing-over occur?

b) Between which structure does exchange of genes occur?

SAQ 5
The figure given below shows chiasma formation. The two chromosomes
involved have the genes a, b,................h and A,B.....................H. Fill in the
blank spaces as to what genes the resultant separated chromosomes have,
and shade the areas where genetic exchange has taken place.

SAQ 6
In the cross-over given below, is there a greater chance of genes A and B
being separated or genes A and F? Explain your answer.

3.4 CHROMOSOME MAPPING

The linkage of the genes in a chromosome can be represented in the form of a
genetic map. It shows the linear order of the genes along the chromosome
with the distances between adjacent genes proportional to the frequency of
recombination between them. A genetic map is also called a linkage map or a
chromosome map. 91
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
The unit of distance in a genetic map is called a map unit (mu). One map unit
is equal to 1 per cent recombination or one centimorgan (cM), named in
honour of T.H. Morgan. For example, two genes that recombine with a
frequency of 4.5 per cent are said to be located 4.5 map units apart.

Alfred H. Sturtevant, a student of T.H. Morgan, was the first one to construct a
genetic map based on his data on recombination frequencies that shows the
location of various genes on a chromosome. Sturtevant also pointed out that
the map is linear or one dimensional. The first genetic map of the X
chromosome of Drosophila constructed from his data in Table 3.1 is shown in
Fig. 3.20.

Table 3.1: Recombination Frequencies for Some Sex-Linked Mutations in

Drosophila melanogaster.

Genes Recombination Frequency

yellow (y) and white (w) 0.010

yellow (y) and vermilion (v) 0.322

yellow (y) and miniature (m) 0.355

vermilion (v) and miniature (m) 0.030

white (w) and vermilion (v) 0.300

white (w) and miniature (m) 0.327

white (w) and rudimentary (r) 0.450

vermilion (v) and rudimentary (r) 0.269

0 0.01 0.31 0.34 0.58

y w v m r

Fig. 3.20: The first genetic map of the X-chromosome of Drosophila

melanogaster, showing the relative map positions of the genes yellow,
white, vermilion, miniature, and rudimentary. The yellow gene was
arbitrarily chosen as zero on the genetic map.

Sturtevant reasoned that if genes were distributed along a chromosome, then

the farther apart two genes lie the greater the likelihood that a cross-over
would occur between them. Thus, the frequency of recombination between
widely separated genes should be greater than that between closely located
92 36
genes.
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping
Let's have a look at the data in Table 3.1 once again. The yellow and white
mutations exhibit a recombination frequency of 0.010 and therefore, must be
fairly close to each other compared to yellow and vermilion, which exhibit a
recombination frequency of 0.322. Moreover, white and vermilion show a
recombination frequency of 0.300, indicating that white must be closer to
vermilion than is yellow. Therefore, the data indicates that white must lie
between yellow and vermilion. Similarly, it has been found out that the
vermilion is located quite close to miniature (recombination frequency 0.030)
and vermilion is more closely linked to white than is miniature (compare 0.300
to 0.327); therefore, rudimentary must be between white and miniature. The
rudimentary appears to be almost unlike to white, as shown by its
recombination frequency 0.450. This approaches the value of 0.50 expected
for independent assortment. The location of rudimentary which might be on
the left or the right of white on the map, was based on the observation that
vermilion is closely linked to rudimentary than is white and therefore, must lie
between the two.

The case of white and rudimentary (recombination frequency of 0.450)

illustrates the point that two genes may reside on the same chromosome and
yet assort independently, if they are very distantly located. For example, if a
gene is located some distance right of rudimentary it would then assort
independently of white. Such a gene would have a recombination frequency
about 0.50 and yet could be shown to be on the same chromosome as white
through common linkage to rudimentary.

In Fig. 3.20, the distance between adjacent genes is based on the observed
recombination frequency. And you know that recombination frequency is
defined as one map unit, or one centimorgan (cM). The location of each gene
is designated by the map distance from one end of the set of linked genes.
The yellow gene is arbitrarily chosen as the left end of the map with a position
of 0.0, and the positions of the other genes are assigned by summing
recombination frequencies between the nearest genes. Thus, yellow and
rudimentary are separated by 58 cM on the map of the X chromosome.

3.4.1 Three- Point Crosses

Sturtevant presented his proof of the linearity of genetic map based on the
analysis of data from crosses in which alleles of three different X chromosome
genes were segregating – the three point crosses. We shall continue using the
same example of the X-linked genes in Drosophila as above to describe these
crosses.

You already know, that a test cross is very useful in studying linked genes,
and it helped immensely in our understanding of linkage. Sturtevant test
crossed a female heterozygous for the mutations yellow body, white eye,
miniature wings with a ywm male (see Fig. 3.21). 93
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

Fig. 3.21: A test cross involving three loci on the X chromosome of Drosophila
melanogaster.

Consider the types of eggs produced by such a female. In addition to the

parental combination of alleles, six other combinations are expected to occur
because for each gene either of the two alleles may be present on one X
chromosome. The total number of possible combinations is therefore, 2 × 2 ×
2 = 8 (also Fig. 3.21). Since these genes are linked, the different combinations
do not occur with equal frequencies but are dictated by the association of
alleles and by the frequency with which crossing-over occurs between each
pair of genes, These recombination frequencies are shown in Fig. 3.21. If
these genes are arranged in a linear order on the chromosome, then three
94 36
different arrangements are possible (see Fig. 3.21).
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping
You should note that the reciprocal recombinant types cannot arise from the
two cross-overs occurring during meiosis. In other words, if three genes are
present linearly, the recombinant types cannot be produced independently of
one another.

Only the other order I showing the y-w-m gene arrangement is consistent with
the data in Fig. 3.21. The observed recombination frequency between y and w
is 0.007 and that between w and m is 0.330. Therefore, the frequency of
double cross-over recombinant class should be approximately 0.007 × 0.330 =
0.00231.

In Fig. 3.22, you can see that the most infrequent recombinant class is w
recombined with y and m. Its recombination frequency being 9/10,495 =
0.00086 and therefore, this is the class produced by double cross-over,
Sturtevant showed that this type of relationship existed for alleles of any three
genes on the X chromosome and only a linear map could account for the
recombination data from many different crosses involving different sets of
three genes.

Sturtevant's discovery of linear arrangement of genes on the chromosome is

accorded an importance second only to Mendel’s discovery of the gene. The
linear nature of the chromosome provided a framework for all future work in
genetics and presaged ' the discovery of the linear nature of the DNA
molecule.

Fig. 3.22: The three possible orders of genes y and m with gametes produced from
double recombination. 95
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
Thus, the three-point crosses provide information regarding both the order of
the genes involved, and the recombination frequencies among them. This type
of analysis, first done by Sturtevant, forms the basis of all genetic mapping.
The genetic map of the Drosophila melanogaster genome established by
Sturtevant and other students in Morgan's laboratory is shown in Fig. 3.22.

3.4.2 Interference and Coincidence

The detection of double crossing-over has made it possible to determine

whether exchanges in two different regions of a pair of chromosomes occur
independently of each other. Using the information from the above example of
Drosophila (data given in Fig. 3.21), we know from the recombination
frequencies that the probability of exchange is 0.330 between w and m, and
0.007 between y and w. If crossing-over occurs independently in the two
regions (that is, if the occurrence of one exchange does not alter the
probability of the second exchange), the probability of the occurrence of an
exchange in both regions is the product of these individual probabilities, that
is, (0.330 × Q.007 = 0.00231) or 0.231 per cent. This means that in a sample
of 10,495 the expected number of double cross-overs would be 10,495 ×
0.00231 = 24.2 or 24. Whereas the number observed was only 9. Such
deficiencies in the observed number of double cross-overs are common and
are said to be due to Interference (I). That is, the occurrence of crossing-over
in one region of a chromosome reduces the probability of a second cross-over
in a nearby region.

The coefficient of coincidence (c) is the observed number of double

recombinants divided by the expected number; its value provides a simple
measure of the degree of interference, which is measured as:

Interference = I – coefficient of coincidence or I = I – c

From the data in our example, the coefficient of coincidence is 9/24 = 0.375,
meaning that the number of double cross-overs that occurred was only 37 per
cent of the number expected if crossing-over in the two regions were
independent. It has been found experimentally that interference usually
increases as the distance between the two markers becomes smaller, until a
point is reached at which double crossing-over does not occur; that is, no
double cross-overs are found and the coefficient of coincidence equals 0 (or
the interference equals 1). The distance is about 10 map units in a variety of
organisms. Conversely, when the total distance between the gene loci is
greater than about 45 map units, interference disappears and the coefficient of
96 36
coincidence becomes 1 (Fig. 3.23).
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping

Fig. 3.23: An abbreviated genetic map of D. melanogaster showing the

correspondence between each of the four linkage groups and a pair of
chromosome. The map position of the genes in a chromosomes are in
map units from the gene closest to one end of the chromosome. Only
a few of the many genes that have been snapped as shown. 97
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
3.5 WHY DIDN’T MENDEL FIND LINKAGE?
It is often said that Mendel had extremely good fortune in his experiments with
garden pea as in none of his crosses did he come across any apparent
linkage between any of the seven traits he studied. Had Mendel obtained
highly variable data characteristic of linkage and crossing-over, these
unorthodox ratios may have hindered his successful analysis and
interpretation of data.

One of the common and simplest explanation for the absence of linkage is that
each of the seven genes was located on different linkage group or
chromosome. As Pisum sativum has a haploid number of 7, so this
speculation was widely accepted.

Stig Blixt, however, demonstrated the inadequacy of this hypothesis and

explained why Mendel did not encounter ratios, characteristic of linkage and
crossing-over (see Box 3.1).

Box 3.1: Why Didn’t Gregor Mendel Find Linkage?

It is quite often said that Mendel was very fortunate not to run into the
complication of linkage during his experiments. He used seven genes, and
the pea has only seven chromosomes. Some have said that had he taken
just one more, he would have had problems. This, however, is a gross
oversimplification. The actual situation, most probably, is that Mendel worked
with three genes in chromosome 4, two genes in chromosome 1, and one
gene in each of chromosomes 5 and 7. (See Table 3.1). It seems at first
glance that, out of the 21 dihybrid combinations Mendel theoretically could
have studied, no less than four (that is, a-i,v-fa, v-le, fa-le) ought to have
resulted in linkages. As found, however, in hundreds of crosses and shown
by the genetic map of the pea, a and i in chromosomes 1 are so distantly
located on the chromosome that no linkage is normally detected. The same is
true for v and le on the one hand, and fa on the other, in chromosome 4. This
leaves v-le, which ought to have shown linkage.

Table 3.1: Relationship between Modern Genetic Terminology and

Character Pairs Used by Mendel

Character Pair Used by Alleles in Modern Located in

Mendel Terminology Chromosome

Seed colour, yellow-green l-i 1

Seed coat and flowers, A-a 1

coloured-white

Mature pods, smooth V-V 4

expanded-wrinkled indented

Inflorescences, from leaf axis- Fa-fa 4

umbellate in top of plant

Plant height, 0.5-1 m Le-le 4

98 36
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping
Unripe pods, green yellow Gp-gp 5

Mature seeds, smooth R-r 7

wrinkled

Mendel, however, does not seem to have published this particular

combination and thus, presumable, never made the appropriate cross to
obtain both genes segregating simultaneously. It is therefore not so
astonishing that Mendel did not run into the complication of linkage, although
he did not avoid it by choosing one gene from each chromosome.

Stig Blixt, 1975

From: Nature, Vol. 256, p.206.

3.6 SUMMARY
In this unit you have learnt that:

• Certain non-allelic genes located on the same chromosome tend to

remain together during meiosis than undergoing independent
assortment. This phenomenon is called linkage. The indication of linkage
is deviation from the 1:1:1:1 ratio of phenotypes in the progeny of a
cross of the form AaBb X aabb when genes in a cross with two unlinked
genes segregate, more than 50 per cent of gametes produced have
parental combinations of the segregating alleles and less than 50 per
cent have nonparental (recombinant) combination of alleles.

• The recombination of linked genes occurs by crossing-over, a process

by which non-sister chromatids of the homologous chromosomes
exchange corresponding segments. Crossing-over involves the
breakage of individual chromatids and exchange of parts. This process
of breakage and reunion is usually associated with a small amount of
DNA repair synthesis. Crossing-over occurs after chromosome
duplication, in the four-chromatid stage of meiosis. A given cross-over
involves any two of the four chromatids.

• The frequencies of crossing-over between different genes can be used

to determine the relative order and locations of the genes in
chromosomes. This is called genetic mapping. Distance between
adjacent genes in such a map (a genetic or linkage map) is defined to be
proportional to the frequency of recombination between them. The unit of
map distance (one map unit - mu or cM) is defined as 1 per cent
recombination. One map unit corresponds to a physical length of the
chromosome in which a cross-over event will occur. For short distances
map units are additive.

• The four haploid products of individual meiotic divisions can be used to

analyse linkage and recombination in some species of fungi and
unicellular algae. The method is called tetrad analysis. 99
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
3.7 TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1. From the data given below answer i) and ii)

Genotype Number of Progeny

OR 327

Qr 61

qR 56

qr 342

i) The above data indicates that genes:

a) are completely linked

b) are not linked

c) are partially linked

d) no conclusion can be made

ii) The per cent recombination that has occurred is:

a) 10%

b) 15%

c) 30%

d) 50%

2. Fill in the blank spaces with appropriate words:

i) Two events that take place during meiosis contribute to genetic

variability: ……………… and ……………… . The general term for
production of new gene combination is genetic ……………… .

ii) The more chromosomes an organism has, the more genetic

variability it gets from ……………… .

iii) The longer the chromosomes of an organism, the more genetic

variability it gets from ……………… .

iv) Assume that the genes for hair colour and eye colour are closely
linkage, w… the alleles for brown hair and brown eyes on one
chromosomes of a homologous pair; and the alleles for blonde hair
and blue eyes on the other chromosome of the pair. A cross-over
between these two loci would produced a child with ……….. hair
and ………….. eyes, or ……………… hair and …………….. eyes.

v) Independent assortment recombines genes from ……………

chromosomes, and crossing-over recombines genes from
100
36
……………… chromosomes.
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping
3. Tick mark the correct answer for the following:

i) Independent assortment during meiosis produces gametes with all

possible combinations of maternal and paternal chromosomes.
How many different kinds of haploid gametes does a diploid cell
with four chromosomes produce?

a) Two

b) Four

c) Eight

d) Sixteen

ii) Assuming there is an independent assortment of chromosomes

and no crossing-over in a cell with n pairs of chromosomes. How
many different kinds of gametes is the organism expected to
produce?

a) n

b) n2

c) 2n

d) 1 n
2

iii) During which phase of meiosis crossing-over take place?

a) Prophase of meiosis I

b) Prophase of meiosis II

c) Anaphase of meiosis I

d) Anaphae of meiosis II

iv) During crossing-over, genetic information is exchanged between

two:

a) chromatids of a chromosome

b) long arm of a chromosome

c) chromatids of two homologous chromosomes

d) chromatids of two nonhomologous chromosomes

v) The probability of cross-over occurring between two gene loci is

proportional to:

a) the activity of the two loci

b) the distance between the loci from the centromere

c) the distance between the two loci

d) the length of the chromosome 101

Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
vi) The maximum frequency of a recombination at two loci is:

a) 25%

b) 50%

c) 75%

d) 100%

vii) The recombination frequency between gene A and C is 17 per

cent and between B and C is 26 per cent. What is the sequence of
genes in the chromosome?

a) ABC

b) ACB

c) BAC

d) cannot be determined from the information provided.

viii) In a test cross between two linked genes having 50% crossing-
over between them, what phenotypic ratio of the progeny should
be expected?

a) 9:3:3:1

b) 1:1:1:1

c) 1:2:1

d) 2:2

ix) In order to calculate map distances of genes on a chromosome,

one must know the:

a) number of mutant genes

b) cross-over percentage

c) recombination frequency of each locus

d) a and c

x) In order to determine the gene sequence in a three-point cross,

you must know which of the progeny are:

a) parental (non cross-over) types

b) single cross-over types

c) double cross-over types

d) a, b and c

4. In a plant, long leaves (S) and green veins (Y) are dominant over short
leaves (s) and yellow veins (y). The cross SSYY × ssyy produced an F1
SsYy. When F1 plants were inbred, the F2 consisted of 570 long, green
102
36
individuals and 190 short, yellow. Are the genes S and Y linked?
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping
5. In Drosophila, the recessive, sex-linked genes abnormal eyes facet (fa)
and singed bristles (sn) show 18 percent recombination.

fa +
a) If a singed male is crossed to a female, what phenotypes are
fa +
expected in the F1?

b) If the F1 males and females are inbred what phenotypic

proportions would be expected to occur in F2 males and females?

6. Two recessive genes ds and mp are present in corn. These are linked
and are 20 map units apart. From the cross:
ds mp ds +
×
++ + mp

What percentage of the progeny would be expected to be both ds and

mp in the phenotype?

3.8 ANSWERS
Self Assessment Questions
1) a) i) unlinked

ii) linked

iii) linked

b) 2

c) [D-E-F-G], [H-I]

d) Genes located on the same chromosome are called linked genes

and belong to a linkage group.

2) a) i) linked

ii) 3:1

iii) 1:2:1

iv) complete linkage

b) i) linked

ii) exchange between chromatids

iii) 2, parentals, recombinants

iv) partial linkage

c) i) independent

ii) heterozygous

iii) 9:3:3:1

iv) nonlinkage 103

Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
ab
3)
AB

4) a) During the first prophase of meiosis.

b) Exchange occurs between the chromatids of homologous

chromosomes.

5)

6) There is a greater chance of genes A and F being separated by

crossing-over. For A and B to be separated, chiasma formation must
occur at position 1. For A and F to be separated, the chiasma can form
at any one of the five position (1, 2, 3, 4 or 5).

Terminal Questions
1) i) c, ii) b.

2) i) independent assortment, crossing-over, recombination

ii) independent assortment

(iii) crossing-over

(iv) brown, blue, blonde, brown

(v) non-homologous, homologous

3) i) b, ii) c, iii) a, iv) c, v) c, vi) b, vii) c, viii) b,

ix) c, x) d.

4) The genes S and Y are linked; the ratio is 3:1 indicating complete
linkage that no crossing-over. If not linked, a ratio of 9:3:3:1 would have
been obtained

5) a) F1 females: fa+/+Sn (wild type)

104
36
F1 males fa +/Y (facet)
Unit 3 Linkage, Crossing-Over and Chromosome Mapping
b) From the data, the cross-over frequency between fa and sn is 18 per
cent. Therefore, cross -over eggs will be ++ (9 per cent) and fa sn (9 per
cent), and noncross-over eggs would be fa + (41 per cent) and + sn (41
per cent) and + sn (41 per cent ). Union of eggs with fa +, X-bearing
sperm will produce females in the phenotypic proportions of 50 per cent
wild type and 50 per cent facet. Union of eggs with Y-bearing sperm will
produce males in the phenotypic proportion of 41 per cent facet, 41 per
cent singed, 9 per cent facet, singed and 9 per cent wild type.

ds mp
6) Forty percent of the gametes of parents will carry both ds and
++
ds +
mp; 10 per cent of the gametes produced by the parent will carry
+ mp
both recessive genes. Therefore, 0.4 × 0.1 = 0.04 or 4 per cent of the
progeny would be homozoygous for these genes.

105
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

UNIT 4
EXTRA
EXTRANUCLEAR
INHERITANCE

Structure
4.1 Introduction 4.5 Organelles Inheritance
Dependent on Nuclear
Objective
Genome
4.2 Extra-Nuclear (cytoplasmic)
Chloroplast Proteins
Inheritance
Mitochondrial Proteins
Early Experiments
4.6 Organelle-Associated Linear
4.3 Maternal VS. Extra-Nuclear
Plasmid DNA
Inheritance
4.7 Possible Origin of Organelles
4.4 Systems of Extra-Nuclear
Inheritance 4.8 Summary
Chloroplasts 4.9 Terminal Questions
Mitochondria 4.10 Answers

4.1 INTRODUCTION
In the earlier units on Mendel’s laws of inheritance, you have learnt that genes
follow the basic laws formulated by Mendel. Genes which follow such a
pattern, are said to be governed by mendelian inheritance.

The notion that genes reside in the nucleus of eukaryotic organisms has
become a firm part of general dogma of genetics. In fact, the mechanics of the
nuclear processes of meiosis and mitosis, together with the understanding that
genes are located on chromosomes, provide the basic set of operational rules
for genetics. However, like most fundamental truths, this one does have
exceptions and these exceptions form the basic frame-work of this unit. In
eukaryotes, the special inheritance patterns of some genes reveal that these
genes are located outside the nucleus. Such an inheritance called the extra-
nuclear, extrachromosomal, cytoplasmic, uniparental or maternal
inheritance, has been exemplified in a variety of eukaryotic systems. We
would mostly refer to this kind of inheritance in this unit as extra-nuclear
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inheritance.
Unit 4 Extra-Nuclear Inheritance
The phenomenon of extra-chromosomal inheritance operates in all the
eukaryotic organisms. Since there is invariable a preference in favour of the
organisms which are easily amenable to experiments, certain species, the
green alga, Chlamydomonas and fungi, Neurospora and Saccharomyces
(yeast) have served good experimental systems of this type of inheritance.

In the first section of this unit we will discuss the basic nature of non-
mendelian inheritance and mechanism of its transmission to the next
generation. We would also see that not all maternal effects are due to non-
mendelian inheritance. The non-mendelian inheritance is due to the genes
residing on cytoplasmic organelles, chloroplasts and mitochondria. You will be
introduced to certain well-studied cases of such an inheritance controlled
either by mitochondria or chloroplasts. You would see how inferences drawn
from various experiments lead to certain concepts. Finally, we would also
discuss the interdependence of nuclear and cytoplasmic genetic systems.

Objectives
After studying this unit you should be able to:

discuss the involvement of chloroplast and mitochondria in extra-

nuclear inheritance,

explain the nature of extra-nuclear inheritance,

give evidences that genes are present in mitochondria and

chloroplasts,

appreciate the complexity of genetic systems residing in various

cellular compartments of a cell, and

discuss the possible origin of organelles involved in extra-nuclear

inheritance.

4.2 EXTRA-NUCLEAR (CYTOPLASMIC)

INHERITANCE
Let's recall that genes in the case of diploid organisms exist in pairs and two
members or alternative forms of a single gene are called alleles. The alleles
are located at the same position (locus) on homologous chromosomes. Law of
segregation, as you have studied earlier, deals with the separation of the
alleles at the time of gamete formation. In terms of chromosomes, it implies
the separation of two homologues from each other during the first meiotic
division. During the cross and in the formation of F1 heterozygote, one allele is
contributed by the female parent and the other comes from the male parent.
The outcome of the cross in terms of phenotype of the F1 is identical
irrespective of which of the alleles, recessive or dominant comes from the
female parent. Therefore, we say that in a typical Mendelian inheritance, the
phenotypic outcome of reciprocal crosses is identical as shown in Fig. 4.1. 107
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype

Fig. 4.1: Typical Mendelian pattern of inheritance in reciprocal crosses.

The implication of this observation is that there are no differences whether

gamete (R) is contributed by the female parent or by the male parent. The
genetic contribution of the two parents is identical and resulting is the same
phenotype in reciprocal crosses. However, there are exceptions to this general
rule.

It has been observed in certain cases that the phenotype of F1 in the reciprocal
crosses is different. When phenotypes of the reciprocal crosses are not
identical, it is the first indication that the inheritance of the particular character
may not follow Mendelian pattern. Such a phenotype is invariably influenced
by maternal parent. Broadly, this pattern of inheritance is termed non-
Mendelian inheritance.

4.2.1 Early Experiments

Soon after the rediscovery of Mendel’s law of inheritance in the beginning of

this century, the results of various experiments were not in conformity with
what was to be expected on the basis of nuclear inheritance. We will discuss
some experiments which provides proof for the existence of extra-nuclear
mode of inheritance.

Variegated Plants

One of the first convincing examples of extra-nuclear inheritance was found in

higher plants. In 1990, a scientist named Carl Correns observed some strange
variegation in Four O’clock (Mirabilis jalapa) plant. It had branches containing
patches of both green and white tissues but some branches carried green
leaves and others only white leaves. Figure 4.2 shows such a variegated
plant. In fact, you must have seen many such variegated plants in your
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surroundings.
Unit 4 Extra-Nuclear Inheritance

Fig. 4.2: Four O’clock (Mirabilis jalapa) plant.

Flowers appeared on all types of branches. He intercrossed different

combinations by transferring pollen from one flower to another and obtained
the following results (Table 4.1).

Table 4.1: Results of the crosses of different phenotypes in Mirabilis jalapa.

Phenotype of branch Phenotype of branch Phenotype of progeny

bearing egg parent bearing pollen parent
(female) (male)

White White White

White Green White

White Variegated White

Green White Green

Green Variegated Green

Green Green Green

Variegated White Variegated, green or white

Variegated Green Variegated, green or white

Variegated Variegated Variegated, green or white

Two basic features are obvious from these results.

(i) There is a difference between these results.

(ii) The phenotype of the maternal parent is solely responsible for
determining the phenotype of all progeny. The contribution of the male
parent appears to be nil. 109
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
The results are summarized in Fig. 4.3.

Since there is no contribution of the male parent, this phenomenon has also
been termed maternal inheritance. White plants lacking chlorophyll do not
survive but other types i.e. variegated and green survive and can further be
tested. This type of pattern is not transitional but keeps on persisting in the
subsequent generations. How can such results be explained? You know that
the green leaf colour is due to the presence of chloroplasts. The colourless
sectors or branches contain colourless plastids and variegated sectors will
have green as well as colourless plastids. The inheritance patterns can easily
be explained with the diagram shown in Figure 4.4 if chloroplasts contain
genetic determinants and pollens do not contribute any chloroplast to the
zygote. It is reasonable to assume that the pollen parent does not transmit any
organelles since bulk of the cytoplasm of the zygote is known to come from
the maternal parent via pollen parent cytoplasm of the egg. The green
branches produce eggs with only green chloroplasts and white branches
produce eggs with colourless chloroplasts. Variegated branches apparently
produce three kinds of eggs, some contain only white chloroplasts, some
contain only green chloroplasts and some contain both kinds of chloroplasts.
The egg containing both types of plastids (chloroplasts) will produce a zygote
containing both the types of chloroplasts. In subsequent mitotic divisions,
chloroplast sorting occurs, whereby some cells contain only green chloroplasts
and others colourless ones, resulting in variegated phenotype in the progeny
individuals. Following these observations, various other cases of this type of
inheritance have been observed in a variety of other plant species.

Fig. 4.3: Non-mendelian pattern of inheritance in the reciprocal crosses of

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36
Mirabilis jalapa.
Unit 4 Extra-Nuclear Inheritance

Fig. 4.4: A model explaining the results of Mirabilis jalapa crosses in terms of
autonomous chloroplast inheritance. The first two crosses exhibit strict
maternal inheritance. If the maternal branch is variegated three of
zygotes can result, depending on whether the egg cell contains only
white, only green or both green and white chloroplasts. In the last case,
the resulting zygote can produce both green and white tissue, so a
variegated plant results.

Poky Mutants

In 1952, a mutant strain of fungus, Neurospora called poky was identified. The
poky mutant is slow growing and has abnormal amounts of cytochromes. You
have already learnt that cytochromes are mitochondrial electron transport
proteins necessary for oxidative phosphorylation. In the poky strains, of the
three main types of cytochromes, cytochrome a or b are absent but an excess 111
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
of cytochrome c is present, Neurospora is a haploid fungus, but a eukaryote. It
has two different mating types and the strains with differing mating types can
be crossed. The crosses of poky to wild type produced the following results
(Fig. 4.5).

Fig. 4.5: Results of reciprocal crosses of poky and wild Neurospora, (a) poky ♀ x
wild type ♂ (b) wild type ♀ x poky dl.

These results again show that there are differences in reciprocal crosses and
the phenotype of the F1 solely controlled by the maternal parent.

SAQ 1
Which of the following statements are correct:

i) The mode of inheritance of extranuclear genetic system is distinct

from mendelian inheritance.

ii) The phenotype of reciprocal crosses are identical in extra-nuclear

inheritance.

iii) In cytoplasmic inheritance the phenotype of reciprocal crosses are

invariably influenced by the male parent.

iv) Extra-chromosomal inheritance is recognized by uniparental

(usually maternal) transmission through a cross.

v) In cytoplasmic inheritance the egg cell would be expected to

influence non-mendelian traits.

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Unit 4 Extra-Nuclear Inheritance
4.3 MATERNAL VS. EXTRA-NUCLEAR
INHERITNACE
Usually but not always, it is possible for a maternal inheritance pattern of
reciprocal crosses to be due to nuclear genes or due to mendelian inheritance.
One of the prominent example in this category is the direction of shell coiling in
the water snail Limnaea. The coiling of the shell in snails, is of two types.
Some snails coil to the right (dextral) while others coils to the left (sinistral
coiling). All the F1 progeny of the dextral female and sinistral male are dextral
but all the progeny of the cross between sinistral female and dextral male are
sinistral (Fig. 4.6).

Fig. 4.6: The inheritance of dextral (D) and sinistral (d) nuclear genes for shell
coiling in a species of water snail. The direction of coiling is determined
by the nuclear genotype of the mother, not the genotype of the
individual involved.

This appears similar to the observations made in the case of chloroplast

inheritance or with the one observed with the poky mutant in Neurospora.
However, in the F2 generation the shell coiling is all dextral from both the
pedigrees. The F3 generation in this case reveals that inheritance of the
direction of coiling is controlled by nuclear genes rather than extranuclear
genes. It was found that 3/4th of F3 are dextral and 1/4th are sinistral. The ratio
reveals a mendelian segregation, 3:1 of the F2 generation. Apparently dextral 113
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
is dominant over sinistral. It was found that the coiling pattern is conditioned by
a biochemical compound present in the maternal cytoplasm. Subsequently,
this biochemical compound gets diluted due to somatic divisions, and the new
compound is synthesised depending on the genes present in the female
parent. It is apparent from the foregoing example that whether a inheritance is
controlled by extra-chromosomal genes, can only be confirmed if the
inheritance pattern persists in subsequent generations.

4.4 SYSTEMS OF EXTRA-NUCLEAR

INHERITANCE
We have seen earlier that genes residing in cytoplasm are responsible for
extra-nuclear inheritance. The experiments with Four O’ clock plants were
conclusive enough to implicate chloroplasts in the inheritance of variegation.
Similarly, the experiments with poky mutant in Neurospora show that the
defect is in one of the components of mitochondria. When we talk about genes
or genetic material we invariably imply DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). You
already know that DNA is the store-house of genetic information. Whatever
information an organism requires to develop from a single-celled zygote to an
adult is encoded in its DNA.

The experiments with plants and Neurospora and also with Chlamydomonas
and yeast, clearly establish following:

(i) Certain characters are not governed by the principle of Mendelian

inheritance but follow extra-nuclear inheritance and

(ii) In the case of Mirabilis, chloroplasts also determine the inheritance

pattern, and in the case of Neuropora, the inheritance is also controlled
by mitochondria. Thus, the extra-nuclear inheritance implies the
presence of genetic determinants in chloroplasts, mitochondria or both.
Since the genetic determinants or genes invariably mean DNA (in certain
cases RNA) the search continued for showing the presence of DNA in
these organelles. Using both electron microscopic and biochemical
studies it was established that both of these organelles contain DNA and
also possess the machinery necessary to decode the information
contained in their DNA.

4.4.1 Chloroplasts
In 1950’s Ruth Sager isolated a mutant of Chlamydomonas reinhardii which
cannot grow in the presence of an antibiotic, streptomycin. Chlamydomonas is
a fresh water unicellular eucaryotic alga. It does not have different sexes but
have mating types (mt+ and mt-). The haploid cells under conditions of nitrogen
starvation behave like gametes and gametic fusion between dissimilar mating
types occurs. The diploid cells after fusion, undergo meiosis and release four
haploid cells (tetrads) as shown in Fig. 4.7.

When a strain, which can grow in the presence of streptomycin (smr) was
crossed (Fig. 4.8) with a strain which cannot grow in the presence of
streptomycin (sms), the following pattern of inheritance was observed:

smr mt+ × sms mt- → all smr

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sms mt+ × smr mt- → all sms
Unit 4 Extra-Nuclear Inheritance
we can draw two kinds of inferences from these crosses with respect to the
inheritance of the sm gene:

(i) There are differences in reciprocal crosses and

(ii) The phenotype of F1 is determined by mt+ parent. It is similar to the

pattern expected for a maternal inheritance and it is a case of
uniparental inheritance. Using the analogy of higher system mt+ is
referred to as the female and mt- as male. The mating type genes, mt+
segregate in 1:1 ratio, as expected for true mendelian inheritance.

Fig. 4.7: Diagrammatic representation of the life cycle of Chlamydomonas. The

+ -
nuclear mating-type alleles mt and mt must be heterozygous in order
for the sexual cycle to occur.

In the case of higher organisms, where a zygote is formed by fusion of egg

with sperm, the cytoplasmic contribution of the male gamete is almost
negligible. Under such conditions, it is easy to comprehend the mechanism of
maternal inheritance. In case of Chlamydomonas, the cytoplasmic contribution
of the two gametes, mt+ and mt- is almost identical. However, a uniparental
inheritance is still observed and the cytoplasmic contribution of the mt- parent,
somehow has to be eliminated from the progeny. Therefore, a basic question
arises, what happens to the cytoplasmic determinants of mt- gametes? This
puzzle was solved by Ruth Sagar, who discovered that on gametic fusion, mt-
chloroplast DNA gets degraded. The mt+ gene or a gene very closely linked to
it, specifies a restriction-modification system. Restriction, in simplicistic terms,
means degradation and modification that imply protection. The system,
encoding the DNA modifying enzyme, modifies its own DNA which cannot be
degraded by the restriction system, However, the mt- chloroplast which is not
modified and thus not protected, is degraded by the restriction system 115
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
+ +
specified by the mt cells. It has been shown that an mt linked gene encodes
an endonuclease (enzyme which degrades DNA) which can differentiate DNA
of its own cell from that of the mt- cell due to modification. Since the mt- cell
with mt+ cells, no expression of mt- chloroplast DNA is observed, leading to the
uniparental pattern of inheritance. Therefore, nature in this case has conspired
to make mt+ cells mimic the female gametic functions. However, in a fraction (1
in 100) of cases, mt- chloroplast DNA does escape the degradation by the mt+
restriction system. Such biparental zygotes containing the chloroplast DNAs
from both cells are called cytohets (cytoplasmic heterozygotes). The cytohets,
in fact, are very useful in studying the recombination of cytoplasmic genes.
Ruth Sagar by using the analysis of cytohets constructed a genetic map of
Chlamydomonas chloroplast DNA.

Fig. 4.8: Inheritance of streptomycin resistance in Chlamydomonas.

SAQ 2
Fill in the blank spaces in the following statements by appropriate words.
(i) The genetic determinants of maternal inheritance are present in
………………… and ………………… .
(ii) The biparental zygote containing chloroplast DNAs of both parents in
Chlamydomonas is called ………………… .
(iii) In Chlamydomonas crosses, the chloroplast DNA the mt+ strain survives
because it has gene for restriction modification enzyme to ………………
its own cpDNA from ………………… .
(iv) The DNA fibrils in chloroplast have been observed by …………………
studies and have also been ………………… and characterised by
biochemical studies.
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Unit 4 Extra-Nuclear Inheritance
4.4.2 Mitochondria
In support of extra-nuclear inheritance, we have already discussed the
involvement of mitochondria in the poky mutants in Neurospora. However, the
best studied examples of such a pattern of inheritance come from genetic as
well as molecular studies of mitochondrial genetic system of baker’s yeast,
Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast is a haploid organism and has two kinds of
mating type alleles, α and a. The gametes carrying different mating type
alleles, α and a. fuse leading to the formation of a zygote.

The diploid zygotes undergo meiosis and result in the formation of four
ascospores. The ascospores germinate and form haploid yeast cells. The life
cycle of yeast is given in Figure 4.9.

Fig. 4.9: The life cycle of baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae).

Yeast cells normally form large colonies on agar plates which are called
‘grande’. Occasionally minute colonies, called ‘petite’ (meaning small) also
appear amongst them. When petites were crossed grande strains, following
three different kinds of results, as outlined in Figure 4.10 were obtained:

If the inheritance of a nuclear gene, such as the mating type locus is followed,
the progeny ascospores segregate in the expected 2:2 ratio. The similar
results (2:2 ratio with respect to grande and petite phenotype) were obtained
in the first category of crosses indicating that this petite phenotype is
controlled by nuclear gene. Such petites governed by the mendelian
inheritance are called nuclear or segregational petites. Therefore, we are
not going to discuss them here.

The other two crosses produce 0:4 or 4:0 with respect to grande and petite
phenotypes indicating the extra-nuclear pattern of inheritance. In one case, all
the progeny is normal (grande) and in the other, all are petites. In the former
case, it appears that the more functional mitochondria take over resulting in all
the normal progeny. The petites falling into this category are called neutral
petites. The last category of cross, petite x grande producing all petite 117
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
progeny, are called suppressive petites. Since the inheritance pattern of
neutral and suppressive petites is extra-nuclear, they are also referred to as
cytoplasmic petites. In a yeast cross, the two parental haploid cells fuse and
apparently contribute equally to the cytoplasm of the resulting diploid cell. In
extra-nuclear inheritance in yeast, the phenotype of the F1 is not dependent on
a particular mating type. In this respect yeast is clearly different from
Chlamydomonas.

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 4.10: Petite mutations in genetic crosses. The nuclear petites (a) show
mendelian segregation; the neutral petites (b) show 4+ : 0 petite non-
mendelian segregation; the highly suppressive petites (c) show 0+ : 4
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petite non-mendelian segregation.
Unit 4 Extra-Nuclear Inheritance
Several properties of the cytoplasmic petites which are listed below point to
the involvement of mitochondria in their phenotype.

(i) In cytoplasmic petites, the mitochondrial electron transport chain is

defective. Therefore, the petites have to rely on the less efficient process
of fermentation for providing ATP. If they are placed in a medium
containing non-fermentable energy source such as glycerol, they do not
grow.

(ii) Mitochondria normally possess their unique protein-synthesizing

apparatus, which is different from the non-organellar or cytosolic system.
The cytoplasmic petites, are therefore, defective in protein synthesis.

(iii) The suppressive petites have altered mitochondria DNA (mtDNA) and
the neutral petites contain no mtDNA at all.

During the derivation of petite mutants from grande strains, certain other
mitochondrial genes are also lost. The coincidental or simultaneous loss of
several determinants is indicative of deletion. This led to a proposition that
petite phenotype may possibly be a consequence of deletion in mitochondrial
DNA (mtDNA). It is now established that the petite phenotype in fact results
from deletion of mtDNA. However, the size of mtDNA isolated from petite
mitochondria was found to be similar to that of the mtDNA isolated from
normal mitochondria (~78kb). Moreover, different petites have been shown to
contain different genetic determinants indicating the deletions of different
regions in mtDNA. To compensate the deleted segments of mtDNA, the DNA
retained by the petite is amplified through tandem duplication to provide a
chromosome of approximately the normal length. This phenomenon of
deletion-amplification can be explained diagrammatically (Fig. 4.11).

Fig. 4.11: When a petite is produced from a grande cell, a large region of mtDNA
may be deleted. Apparently, the DNA region retained by the petite (in
this example A) is amplified through tandem duplication to provide a
chromosome of approximately the normal length.

Beside petities, several other mutations showing the patterns of extra-nuclear

inheritance have been analysed in yeast. Prominent among them are

(i) Mitochondrial mutations conferring resistance to various antibiotics such

as chloramphenicol (capR), erythromycin (aryR), spiromycin (spiR),
paramomycin (parR), and oligomycin (oliR). These mutants as a class are
called antibiotic resistant (antR), mutants. 119
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
(ii) The other category of mitochondrial mutants called mit- are defective in
mitochondrial electron transport chain and they also produce small
colonies. However, unlike petites they have normal protein synthesis and
are able to revert back to normal. The reversion indicates that they
resemble point mutations. The inheritance pattern of the mit- mutants is
comparable to antibiotic mutants of Chlamydomonas, mentioned earlier,
showing uniparental inheritance at meiosis.

SAQ 3
In the following statements choose the alternate correct word given in the
parenthesis.
(i) Resistance to antibiotic in some strains of yeast is due to (chloroplast /
mitochondrial / nuclear) genes.
(ii) The mit- mutant strain of yeast shows (uniparental / biparental)
inheritance.

4.5 ORGANELLES INHERITANCE DEPENDENT

ON NUCLEAR GENOME
It is apparent from the foregoing discussion that animal and non-
photosynthetic eukaryotic cells contain two genetic systems i.e. nuclear and
mitochondrial; and plant and other eukaryotic photosynthetic cells contain
three different genetic systems namely nuclear, chloroplast and mitochondrial.
The presence of more than one genetic systems, each having its own distinct
machinery for transcription and translation, requires an active cooperation and
coordination between the genetic systems for various cellular functions. The
systems of cooperation, as we will discuss in this section, is apparent in the
synthesis and assembly of the chloroplast or mitochondrial proteins. We will
describe the examples of organelle-proteins in which one or more subunits are
encoded by nuclear genome and the others by the organelle genome.

4.5.1 Chloroplast Proteins

We have mentioned earlier that chloroplast DNA codes for several proteins
which are involved in photosynthesis and also in translational machinery of
chloroplasts. Some examples of the genes encoding the chloroplast proteins
are large submit of the enzyme, ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (rbc),
photosystem 1 (psa), photosystem 2 (psb), ATP synthethase (atp), RNA
polymerase (rpo), permease (mbpx), 30 and 50 S ribosomal subunit proteins
(rps and rpl) and ribosomal and various transfer RNA genes. Nuclear genes
also code for many of the chloroplast proteins or subunits of some proteins
involved both in photosynthesis. The mRNAs of these proteins is translated on
cytosolic ribosomes (80 S) and these proteins are then transported to
chloroplasts. The cooperation of nuclear and chloroplast gene, each encoding
a subunit of a single protein is well carboxylase-RuBP subunits: large and
small. The large subunit is encoded by chloroplast DNA and synthesised on
chloroplast ribosomes (70 S) while the small subunit encoded by nuclear
genes is synthesised in cytosol and is then transported into chloroplasts,
where it assembles with the large subunit to produce a functional RuBP
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carboxylase.
Unit 4 Extra-Nuclear Inheritance
4.5.2 Mitochondrial Proteins
Overall function of the mitochondrial genome shows that it codes for some
proteins that are actually involved or associated with the electron transfer
chain, and all tRNAs and rRNA’s necessary for mitochondrial protein
synthesis. As you know that the three main components of the electron
transfer chain of mitochondriacytochrome c oxidase, cytochrome b and
ATPase complex are located in its inner membrane. For these three functional
units, mtDNA supplies six proteins, three subunits of cytochrome c oxidase,
two subunits of ATPase, and cytochrome b. The remaining necessary
components are encoded by nuclear genes and the products are transported
to mitochondria where they assemble into functional complexes.

In is apparent that all the genes required to fulfil either chloroplast or

mitochondrial functions are not present in these organelles. The cytosolically
synthesised subunits contain specific signal sequences which direct their
transport to either of the organelles, where the signal peptides are cleaved off
and the subunits are assembled to form a functional protein. The
photosynthetic eukaryotes have three genetic systems i.e. mitochondrial,
chloroplasts and nuclear and other eukaryotes have two i.e. mitochondrial and
nuclear. It is clear from the foregoing discussion that in spite of the existence
of a compartmentalisation in a eukaryotic cell, a degree of interdependence of
chloroplasts and mitochondrial systems cannot be considered autonomous.
With the same logic and considering limited genetic potential of the organelles
they cannot possible survive outside the cellular system, even though they
have own distinct genetic system and protein synthesising machinery.

4.6 ORGANELLE-ASSOCIATED LINEAR

PLASMID DNA
Plasmids are autonomously replicating extra-chromosomal DNA molecules
commonly occurring in bacteria. Occasionally they have also been found in
eukaryotes. For example certain strains of yeast, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae
contain 2 micron (µ) plasmid circles which are present in nucleoplasm. It has
been found that in certain cases, plasmid DNA is also associated with mtDNA.
Two interesting cases of plasmid DNA associated with mtDNA are (i)
Cytoplasmic male sterility in maize and (ii) Senescence (aging) in the fungus,
Neurospora.

(i) Male sterility in plants has a great economic importance in agriculture,

since male sterile plants eliminate the necessity of emasculation
(removal of anthers) for producing hybrid plants. A male sterile plant
does not produce functional pollen. If male sterile plant is used as a Fig. 4.12: Maternal
female parent in a cross with a normal fertile plant as a pollen parent, all inheritance of male
the progeny is male sterile (Fig. 4.12). Thus, the inheritance pattern is sterility in maize.
exclusively maternal, indicating that the determinants of male sterility are
located in organelles. It has been found that male sterile lines of maize
have two linear plasmids, S1 and S2 within mitochondria. The presence
of these plasmids makes the plants male sterile. They are also found to
recombine with mtDNA. The exact role of S1 and S2 in male sterility is
not yet fully understood. 121
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
(ii) Most Neurospora strains do not senesce and if nutrients in the medium
are not limiting they will keep on growing for ever. However, a Hawaiian
strain called “Kalilo” does senesce. Kalilo strain will grow only certain
distance through the culture medium before it dies. This senescent
property is maternally inherited or shows extra-nuclear inheritance. It has
been established now that senescence is determined by a linear plasmid
called Kal DNA. This plasmid exists autonomously and the onset of
death is preceded by insertion of this plasmid DNA into mtDNA. At
death, most mtDNA molecules contain full length plasmid DNA inserts.
Presumably, the insertion of plasmid DNA into mitochondrial genome
inactivates the genes affecting certain essential mitochondrial functions
and thus results in cell death.

SAQ 4
a) In the following statements choose the alternate correct word given in
parenthesis.

i) The DNA regions in chloroplast could be observed under (light

microscope/electron microscope).

ii) The regions containing cpDNA are called (nucleoids/celluloids).

iii) Each nucleoid contains (a single/a few) copies of DNA.

iv) The cpDNA and mtDNA are usually (circular/linear) in nature.

v) Both chloroplast and mitochondria contain (a few/many) copies of

DNA.

vi) The mtDNA of yeast is (bigger/smaller) than mtDNA of humans.

vii) The occurrence of introns is discovered in (yeast/human).

b) Which among the following statements are correct.

i) Mitochondria contain 80 S ribosomes.

ii) The mRNA encoded by nuclear genes for the smaller submit of
rubisco is translated in the chloroplast.

iii) The inheritance of chloroplast genome is independent of nuclear

genome.

iv) The chloroplast proteins or their subunits synthesised in the

cytoplasm are transported to chloroplast.

4.7 POSSIBLE ORIGIN OF ORGANELLES

We know that both chloroplasts and mitochondria perform certain essential
functions for the cell. They contain own distinct genetic system and protein
synthesising apparatus. However, the genetic system, and transcription and
translational machinery is similar to prokaryotes. You may recall that the
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eukaryotic ribosomes are of 80S whereas the prokaryotic ribosomes are of
Unit 4 Extra-Nuclear Inheritance
70S type. The protein synthesis in both the organelles is similar to the
prokaryotic system and can be inhibited by chloramphenicol whereas the
cytoplasmic protein synthesis is inhibited by cycloheximide. The inhibition of
protein synthesis by different sets of antibiotics, in fact, reflects the differences
in the nature of ribosomal subunits present. The existence of genetic and
protein synthetic machinery similar to prokaryotes within chloroplasts and
mitochondria led to the question of their possible origin from a prokaryotic
source i.e. the theory of endosymbiosis.

In has been widely conjectured that during pre-evolutionary time certain

bacteria-like organism (cyanobacteria-like organism in the case of
chloroplasts) invaded eukaryotic cell and established a symbiotic
(endosymbiosis) like relationship within the cell. The chloroplasts conferred on
the cell the photosynthetic ability and mitochondria endowed the cell with
energy-transducing properties. The relationship was reinforced when the
system became permanently interdependent; i.e. the cell cannot survive
without mitochondria and/or chloroplasts and these organelles cannot survive
ouside the cell as discussed earlier.

The above endosymbiotic theory has received a certain degree of

experimental support from recent molecular studies. We have discussed in the
earlier section that subunits of several enzymes of chloroplast and
mitochondria are encoded by nuclear genes. These enzymes and other
organelle proteins such as RNA polymerase and ribosomal proteins are very
similar to bacteria or cyanobacteria. A certain degree of similarities in
sequences, both at the protein and DNA level, between organelles and
bacteria exists. If chloroplast and mitochondria were indeed prokaryotes
during a pre-evolutionary period, then they certainly have lost a considerable
amount of genetic information. It appears that a massive transfer of genetic
information from organelles to nuclei might have occurred during their long co-
existence. The transfer would have resulted in certain modifications or
prokaryotic genes in order for them to function in a eukaryotic manner.

Recent studies have shown that certain common DNA sequences are resent
between chloroplasts and nuclei; between chloroplasts and mitochondria; and
between mitochondria and nuclei in plants. The results of these studies
provide evidence for the inter-organellar movements of DNA sequences. Many
of the such DNA sequences are not functional now but they certainly appear to
have left their evolutionary footprints.

Other indications in support of the distinct origin of mitochondria are their

unique genetic code and phenomenon of RNA editing. The genetic code is
considered universal, however, certain variations exist in mitochondria. In fact,
it is one of the exclusive property of mitochondria and it is the only exception
to the universality of genetic code. A very recent discovery is related to RNA
editing in plant mitochondria which has also been observed in certain
parasites. After the synthesis of mRNA, certain nucleotide are edited and
replaced by others in mitochondria.

The evidences discussed above provide support to the endosymbiotic theory.

Basically many processes which are characteristics or prokaryotic systems
and unique to the organellar system and not present in the nuclei support the
distinct origin of the organelles. 123
Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
4.8 SUMMARY
Let us summarise what we have learnt so far:

• The study of inheritance pattern of certain traits in plants and animals

show non-conformity with Mendel’s laws of heredity.

• The phenotype of the progeny of reciprocal crosses of variegated plant

Mirabilis jalapa, resembled the phenotype of maternal parent. The
inheritance pattern of variegation in this case is not influenced by nuclear
chromosomes but by the genetic contribution of female parent. Such
type of inheritanc called extranuclear inheritance.

• The resemblance of phenotype to the maternal parent in reciprocal

crosses is not always due to extra-nuclear inheritance. A trait controlled
by extrachromosomal chromosomal inheritance can conclusively be
established if the inheritance pattern persists in subsequent generations.

• The specific characters maternally inherited in plants, fungi and other

organisms suggest that the genetic determinants are present in the
cytoplasmic organelleschloroplast or mitochondria. The DNA
containing regions have been observed in both the organelles by
electron microscopy. The DNA molecules have been isolated and
characterised by biochemical studies.

• Chloroplast and mitochondria contain distinct machinery for the

transcription and translation of information encoded in their DNA.

• In Chlamydomonas where fusion is between isogamous gametes the

pattern of inheritance remains uniparental (maternal) because the
female gamete has restriction modification system which protects its own
chloroplast DNA but degrades that of the male gamete.

• The mitochondrial genetic system is best studied in yeast. The cross

between granded and petite strain show both types of inheritance the
ones governed by mendelian inheritance are called nuclear petites, the
other two neutral and suppressive show cytoplasmic inheritance. The
defective electron transport chain, protein synthesising machinery and
altered DNA point to the involvement of mitochondria in neutral and
suppressive petites.

• Both chloroplast and mitochondria contain several copies of DNA

molecules which are distributed in certain regions called nucleoids. In
most of the cases the DNA molecules are circular.

• EM studies show that chloroplast contain circular DNA which is located

in several regions in chloroplasts called nucleoids. Each nucleoid has
about 4 to 8 copies of DNA. Likewise, mitochondria also have nucleoids.
In all, both the organelles have many copies of DNA molecules.
Chloroplast DNA of majority of plants is made of 120-200 kb. The
cpDNA of liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha) and rice have completely
been sequenced and mtDNA of human and liverwort are also completely
been sequenced. Based on the information derived from DNA
sequences as well as from other studies, the genetic maps of these
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organelle DNAs have been constructed.
Unit 4 Extra-Nuclear Inheritance
• Both organelles have genes to code for tRNA, rRNA and several
proteins required for the organelles function and to carry out RNA and
protein synthesis.

• The two different genomesnuclear and chloroplast or nuclear and

mitochondria cooperate in the synthesis of proteins, each coding for
certain subunit(s) of it. The subunit coded by nuclear genome is
synthesised on ribosomes of the cytoplasm. It is transported to the
organelles and assembles with its complementary subunits synthesised
on chloroplast ribosomes.

• In certain species, plasmids have also been found to be associated with

mitochondria.

• Since the two organelles contain DNA, ribosomes and protein

synthesising machinery similar to prokaryotes, a theory has been
proposed that they were at one time prokaryotes, and during the course
of evolution became endosymbiont by invading a cell, thus the present
day eukaryotic cells were evolved.

4.9 TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1. A scientist carried out reciprocal crosses between two species A and B
of the evening primrose known to have same chromosome constitution.
When the seed parent was A, the plastids of the progeny were green
and when the seed parent was B, the plastids of the progeny were
yellow. How might this difference in the results of reciprocal crosses be
explained?

2. Compare the features listed below among the eukaryotic, prokaryotic

cells with chloroplast and mitochondria.

Eukaryotes Prokaryotes Chloroplast Mitochondria

i) DNA

ii) Ribosomes

iii) Ribosomal
subunits

iv) Effect of antibiotics

on protein
synthesis

4.10 ANSWERS
Self Assessment Questions
1. i) T, ii) F, iii) F, iv) T, v) T.

2. i) chloroplast, mitochondria 125

Block 1 Heredity and Phenotype
ii) cytohets

iii) protect, degradation

iv) electron microscopic studies, isolated

3. i) mitochondrial

ii) uniparental

4. a) i) electron microscope, ii) nucleoids, iii) a few, iv) circular,

v) many copies, vi) bigger, vii) yeast

b) i) F, ii) F, iii) F, iv) T.

Terminal Questions
1. The result of the crosses indicate that the plastid of the offspring are the
same as female parent suggesting that maternal inheritance is involved.

2. Eukaryotes:

i) linear

ii) 80 S

iii) 60 S and 40 S

iv) cycloheximide

Prokaryotes, Chloroplast and Mitochondria:

i) circular

ii) 70 S

iii) 40 S and 30 S

iv) Chloroamphenicol

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