Unit 1 : Basic Biology

3 GeneticsSome Basic Fundamentals

3.1 WHAT IS GENETICS ?

Geneticsis the study of heredity i.e.
bodyfeatures (both similarities and
Syllabus : Genetiæ : Menders laws of inheritance. parents to offspring and the laws relating to such
and se inhe iseases. transmission.

Scope of Syllabus • GREGOR MENDEL — An Austrian Monk

The three laws of Mendel. and Father of Genetics
Monohybrid cross — Gregor Mendel (1S22 —
Dihybnd cross — onty phenotype. 84) was born in a peasant
The following terms
family. He had his early
abele educationin a monastery
recessive, mutation. variation, phenotype, and later he studied Science
genotype. and Ntathematics at
'E Sex determinationin humanbeings. University of Vienna. He
Sex-linked inheritanceof diseases to ihclude wanted to be a teacher but
colour blindness. luckdid notfavonr him, and
Mendel— "Father ot Get*ks•
he failed in the exarnination
of teachingcertificate.But what he discortvd later,
V"henever a child is born the family made hitn a "teacher of teachers". He had returnedto
members usually start comparing the his monastery and spent the rest of his life as an ab&t.
child's appearance as to whom he/she The monastery had a lovely garden which satisfiedhis
resembles more. All this, although a urge to understand some secrets of nature regarding
matter of chance, is governed by the inheritance of certain features in garden pea.His
certain laws. This chapter presents findings are now called as "Mendel's laws of
some fundamentalsof Genetics inheritance".
including Mendel's laws of
inheritance as envisaged in the Two modern applications of genetics
syllabus. In order to properly Genetic engineering is the technique in which,
understand Mendel'slawsof the genetic constitution of an organism (bacterium)
inheritance and the sex-linked is altered by introducing new genes into its
inheritance, it is essential to know beforehand, chromosomes.The genetically modified organism
some basic aspects of genetics. You will learn (GMO) thus produced is grown to multiply fast and
about the chromosomes, the genes and some the gene product is obtained in large quantities.The
very common hereditary traits in humans. You hormone insulin was the first such product. The
can do several investigatory projects, if desired. insulin producing gene of mammals has been

22
CONCISEBIOI-O(D - S
 The same is true for animals also. We keep pets,
successfullyintroduced in certain bacteria which have
produce it. like dog or cat and domesticate animals, like cow or
been made to buffalo. There are so many breeds of each one of them
Genetic counselling is yet another practical aspect. and even in the same breed, there are minor
Newlymarried couples are advised to consult a specialist differences and variations among individuals.
regardingthe possibilities of any undesirable trait which
their children might inherit. Diseases like haemophilia CHARACTER AND TRAITS
(bleede?sdisease with a tendency to bleed freely from Any inheritable feature of an organism is a character.
even a slight wound), thalassaemia and sickle cell The alternativeforms of a character are called traits.
anaernia vcith defective haemoglobin are examples of
geneticdiseaseswhich can be prevented to some extent INHERITANCE IN HUMANS
by proper genetic matching of the prospective parents. We inherit thousands of characters from our parents
(father and mother) who in turn, had inherited them from
Heredity their parents. Thus the family members— brothers, sisters,
cousins—tendto resembleone another.Here is a list of
The term heredity may be defined as "transmission some such characters and their traits •
of geneticallybased characteristics from parents Character Traits
to offspring", or "the genetic constitution of an 1. Colour of the eyes Brown or blue
individuall
2. Hair shape Curly or straight
3. Eyebrows Heavy, bushy or thin
Like Begets Like
4. Hair on the middle Growth or no growth
It meansthat young ones look like their parents. joint of fingers
5. Colour vision Normal or red-green colour
Catsproduce cats and not dogs. blindness
A mango seed germinates into a mango tree. 6. Tongue rolling Rolling of tongue into U-shape
when extended out from the
• Humans give birth only to humans and not to apes. mouth or no rolling
Even the curd bacteria which grow in milk 7. Hand use Right-handedness or left-
undergo hundreds of generations each day, and handedness
continue to produce the same type of bacteria 8. Skin colour Albinism (total absence of
and not of any different type. pigment in skin) or normal
(light or dark) pigment.
Like begets like and yet there are variations 9. Ear lobe Free or attached
All organisms —whether animals, plants or 10. Lips Thick or thin
microorganisms,produce their own kind through 11.Rh Blood group Rh positive or Rh negative.
reproduction. But the offsprings are never identical
to their parents; some difference, howsoever small it
maybe, is found in them.
Check
PWogress
3.2 VARIATIONS IN POPULATION
q 1. Mention if the following statements are True
Human beings as a species share many main (T) or False (F) :
charactersor traits among themselves which identify (i) Genetics and heredityare the same thing.
the species Homo sapiens. Yet, the various races or
tribes look different in several features. Even within (ii) "Like begets like", this applies only to
the same race or tribe, the individual members in animals.
the population show differences. Further, within a (iii) The entire human population shows
variations.
family,members show differences in body features. 2. Which of the following in humans are
Thesesmall differences among the individuals of the established genetic traits ? (Tick-mark the
same species are called variations. correct ones) in the box provided.

Genetics— Some Basic Fundamentals

 eeti
the 40 ate Z
Of

3B CHROMOSOMES—THE oh parct/t#, 'J

HEREDITY
You Jr;'rnt in the prcvjotj; that 1b,Z
vitjbjc A cc"
about to divide, of djvjdifi%ccJJ
nucJcug can bc taken through a pty'//er pair of
fit/C
rnicrtjuope, 'J photographs u:cd for
arfifjciaJJy tbc to THE TWO MAOI
CHROM030ME%
Chromosome nurnbcr
nutnbcr for the It) 39, Woujd that em};
individual; of spccic;, and cach body cell of t}jat c}jrotnosojnc pajre, fjurjbcrcd JOZ
species ha; t}iCP.arne nutnber f fUfrjafj% and these arc categotjpd
have 46 cbrorngnotneq, Chrotnogottjc Of90tt)C autogomeq,Puutthc pair i; different
Other anitnajs and plants arc aq follows arc caJJed
dee,igtjatcdas % at)d Y, ZZ pajr With
vortncre, found in females whereas the
On;otj GorjJJa partners ig found in malo,
Maim 20 Potato Y chromosomeof males it, much unaJJer
gp, that;
Monkey 34 % chromosornc (Fig, 3.1 and 3.2),
'Jigcr | Dog
J)ornestjc cat
Moue,e Crayfish zoo
ingectg More

11 12

17

21 22
CHROMAtlt)3

PJq, 3.2 t Tho human Fornajo

Pig, hurnot' chrorrjosornooarrangejd pasts in order d
(X find Y) (karyotypo),Chitornosorrj%3
(Jurinq (Jivi%ion,Each chrornogotnej
corrtrornoro by srnalj is %Pjitinto two Ctjrornatidoprod
dot.liko contrornoro,

COM •j.sv.BJOLOGY-X
 Autosomes are the kind of chromosomeswhich
determine general body featues like complexion,
height, seed colour, etc. Humans have 22 pairs of Progress Check
autosomes. sex chromosomes (also called as
allosomes)are the kind of chromosomes that 1. Mention the following
determine the sex of an organism. Every human has (i) Total numberof pairs of chromosomesin
only I pair of sex chromosomes. each body cell in humans..............
(ii) Number of pairs of autosomes in humans. ....
3.5 SEX DETERMINATION — SON OR 2. A certain couple got only four daughters in a
DAUGHTER row and no son. Does it mean that the husband
does not produce Y-bearing sperms? Explain.
The sex of the child depends upon the kind of
sperm that fertilises the egg. The egg contains only but these are the result of the units called genes which
one X chromosome, but half of the sperms released the chromosomes carry. The lion and the cat have the
into the genital tract of the female during coitus are same number of chromosomes (38) yet one is distinct
X-bearing and the remaining half are Y-bearing. It is from the other in body size, appearance, colour,
simply a matter of chance as to which type of sperm behaviour, etc. All such characteristics of an organism
fuses with the ovum : are the result of the genes located on the chromosomes.
If the egg (X) is fused by X-bearingsperm, the The word "gene" was coined by geneticist Mhlhelm
resulting combination is XX, i.e. female constitution Johanssen in 1909 to simply describe what parents passed
and the child produced is a female (Daughter). to their offspring,the detailed DNA structure came to
If the egg (X) is fused by Y-bearing sperm, the knowledge much later.
resulting combination is XY, i.e. male
constitution and the child produced is a male (Son). GENES AND GENOME
GENESare the specific parts (DNA segments) of a
3.6 CHROMOSOMES — CARRIERS OF chromosome, which determine the hereditary characteristics.
GENES • According to the latest findings there are nearly 19,000 genes
All species have a fixed number of chromosomes. in humans. ChromosomeNo. I has the largestnumber of
However, the characteristics of species including genes (2968) and chromosome Y has the fewest (231).
• GENOMEis the full complement of DNA (including all
physical appearance, body functions, behaviour, etc.,
genes and the intergenic regions) of an organism.
are not simply the outcome of chromosome number,

Son or Daughter?
male (So far only a matterof chance) Degenerates
female
cell in testis 8)
XY cell in ovary

sperms meiosis
meiosis
egg

Z ote Daughter
each egg has
sperms Son X chromosome
gote

All eggs are alike (each with one X-chromosome), but sperms are either with X- or with Y-chromosome (50% of each
kind).The type of sperm that fertilises the egg determines whether the child will be male or female.

Genetics—--Some Basic Fundamentals 25

3.7 GENES AND THEIR ALLELES (i) AA is homozygous (similar) dominant
(ii) bb is homozygous (similar) recessive
Normally, everv gene has two alternatfie forms pair
for a character producing different effects. These (iii) cc and dD are heterozygous(dissimilar)
Dominant Allele : The kind pain
alternative forms are called the alleles. For exan:ple, of allele
regardless of the which
in the character of tongue rolling (projecting the itself presence of another
tongue out of the mouth in the form of a tube), there a ele for
are two possibilities — either one can roll the tongue garden pea is tall. height
or one cannot. Thus there are two alleles of this gene Recessive Allele : The kind of allele whose
—-onc for rolling and the other for non-rolling. is suppressed in presence of a dominant
for a given gene. A recessive allele can
only
itself in presence of the same recessive
allele.e
The recessive allele for height in garden
pea
Remember —The chromosomeas a wholecan
neither
dominant nor recessive.

3.8 GENOTYPE AND PHENOTYPE

The three situations pertaining to any
pair
genes, as for example in tongue rolling, can t
Fig. 3.3 : Two contrasting alie;es of the tongue rollinggene. be;
follows :
DOMINANTAND RECESSIVE ALLELES (i) RR (both dominant) —-TONGUEROLLER
Out of the two alleles of a gene, one is dominant (ii) Rr (one dominant, one recessive) TONGC
(superruling) and the other is recessive(subordinate ROLLER
or submissive). (iii) rr (both recessive) —-NON-ROLLER
To understand this, again take the same example You can see from the above examplethatth
of tongue rolling. A large number of people can roll tongue rollers have two kinds of genetic constitutim
their tongue into a tube projecting out of the mouth. (RR or Rr) whereas non-rollers have only one genet
Try whether you can do it. Ask your classmates to try constitution (rr).
the same. Most of them can do it, but a few may not. The genetic constitutions (pertaining to the kirL
The gene for tongue rolling is located on a particular of genes possessed) are called genotype andth
pair ofchromosomes. Thus every individual has a pair expressedshown character is called phenotyp
of this gene. It is a rule in genetics to representthe (phene : to show). Thus, for the phenotype (fortonæ
dominant gene by a capital letter, so here "R" for rollers), there are two genotypes:
tongue rolling and the recessivegene by the same but (i) homozygous dominant, that has similarpc
small letter like "r" for non-rolling. Thus, a recessive RR (homo: similar, zygos: pair)
gene is one which, in the presence of the contrasting (ii) heterozygous dominant with dissimilarpc
(dominant) gene, is not expressed. Rr (hetero: different, zygos: pair)
ALLELES: Alternative forms of a æne, The genotype of non-roller is just one sin*
occupying the same position (Locus) on homozygous recessive pair rr.
chrornos.omes and affecting
b
the same characteristicbut in different GENOTYPE AND PHENOTYPE
c c Genotype —The set of genes present in the cellso'
A pair of chromosomes showing four d orpnisrn
imaginarygenesA, B, C, and D. The Phenotype The observable characteristicswhj'b
situaiocs depicted Fgre are g enetically controlled.

-
COSCLSL
3.9 FROM PARENTS TO CHILDREN parent through the sex cells. The situation can
TONGUE ROLLING AN EXAMPLE OF be schematically explained as given in a Punnett
INHERITANCE square (Fig. 3.5).
Fig. 3.4 illustrates a family chart of two parents
Punnett square is a simple diagram in which the
and their three children, again illustrating the trait different types of gametes (sex cells with the
of tongue rolling. concerned trait) of one (female) parent are placed
along one side of the square and those of the other
parent (male) are placed along the other side. Then,
the possible combinations (genotypes) of the opposite
gametes are given in the sub-squares. The resulting
Roller
Roller phenotypes can be writtenunder the genotypes.

GAMETES PARENT (MALE)

(eggs or sperms) (Homozygous tongue roller)
each containing
only half the
amount of
genetic material
of the organism.
R Homozygous Homozygous
Dominant Dominant
Non-roller Roller Roller
(rr) (RR or Rr) (RR or Rr)
Fig. 3.4 : A pedigree (family) chart showing inheritance r Heterozygous Heterozygous
of the ability to roll the tongue. (Symbols : O = female, Dominant Dominant
Z = male; solid symbol indicates the character being traced)
Observe the following points in the above CHILDREN All rollers (50% homozygous dominant and
50% heterozygous dominant)
pedigree (family) chart :
• Malesare shown by squares and females by circles. Fig. 3.5 : A possible family where both parents are
phenotypically similar (tongue rollers) but genotypically
Bothfather and mother are tongue rollers (hollow dissimilar (one homozygousdominant"RR" and the other
symbols represent the usual expressed character). heterozygous "Rr"). All their children will be tongue rollers.
• Of the three children born, two can roll (hollow
symbols)and one cannot (solid symbol). Dominant and recessiveforms of some common
Hereditary fraits in Humans
• The recessivetrait (rr) of non-rolling in one of
Character Dominanttrait Recessivetrait
the children could have come from nowhere else
but the parents. Eye colour Brown Blue
Tongue Rolling Non-rolling
• The non-roller child in the family chart with Hand Right- Left-
genotype "rr" must have received one "r" gene handedness handedness
from one parent and the other "r" gene from the Ear lobe Free Attached
other parent. Lips Thick Thin
Rh blood group Positive Negative
Conclusionis that each of the two parents is
Colour vision Normal Colour
heterozygous (Rr). (red-green) blind
• If, on the other hand, one parent was Cheek Dimpled Normal
homozygous (similar pair RR) dominant and the Some rather uncommon hereditary traits
other heterozygous (dissimilar pair Rr) dominant, Polydactyly (Extra fingers and toes) = Dominant
then every child would have got at least one Albinism (Total absence of skin pigment) = Recessive
Camptodactyly (Inability to straighten the little finger) = Dominant
dominant gene from the homozygous dominant
27
Genetics Some Basic Fundamentals
 DESIGNING
SOME BIOLOGY IN !
THE WRIST WATCHES

wist watch on
Vost people wear the
few on right hand.
left hand and onty very
Is it true ?
genetics.
Something to do with human
the knob
(Hint : Interpretthe position of
related
of the wist watch and the
human genetic trait).

ATTACHED OR FREE EAR LOBES

Can you try to explain the FAMILY A FAMILY B
Inheritance of the character of Free
or Attached Ear lobes. Given FREE O ATTACHED
EAR-LOBES EAR-LOBES
alongside are pedigree charts of
two families A and B. In familyA,
both parents have free ear lobes
and those of family B, have
attached ear lobes (Recollect from
previous example what the
symbols of circle and square,
Pedigree charts of two families A and B showing the inheritance of attached ear lobes
indicate).
Can you find answers to the following ?
1. What is the differenceindicatedby
(i) Squares and circles 0
(ii) Solid symbols and hollowsymbols?
2. Which trait — free ear lobe or the attached ear lobe is dominant?
3. Family B has all children of one type only whereas family A has both types. Parents in which familyare
heterozygous for the character ?

Can you describe the situation here too?

An extreme case of
polydactyly O POLYDACTYLY (6 Fingers)
THE LATEST WORLD O C] NORMAL
RECORD. (PENTADACTYLY)
15 Month old "Akshat" from (5 Fingers)
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, with 7
fingers in each hand and 10 toes
in each foot (thus 34 digits in FA ER
MOTHER
all). He was successfully
operated at AllMS, New Delhi in
June/July 2011; to remove the
extra digits and reshaping a few DaughW
of them both in hands and feet. Daughter ughter Son

-X
28 CONCISE BIOLOGY
3.10 SEX-LINKED INHERITANCE
CASE 1
Sex-linkedinheritanceis the appearanceof a trait
whichis due to the presence of an allele exclusively Heterozygous
either on the X chromosome or on the Y Colour-blind
chromosome. mother x0Y
father
Colour-blind father (X OY)
Sperms (two types)
'X' linked inheritance :
xo
Certain disorders caused due to heredity such
as xxo XY
haemophilia and colour-blindness are more Carrier daughter Normal son
common in males than in females. Such defects are
due to recessive genes, which occur on the 'X' xxo XY
chromosome. Colour blindess is an inherited disease o W
z Carrier daughter Normal son
due to which affected individuals cannot differentiate : Daughters - heterozygous dominant, normal vision
between certain colours, mostly red and green. (You XY : Normal sons
can check if you are normal or colour blind by None of the children is colour-blind but daughters
readingthe numbers given in the three coloured are carriers (XXO) of the defective allele for colour-
circles in the chapter 'Sense Organs'. If you can see blindness.
them, you are normal otherwise colour blind as in
fourth circle). CASE 2
Haemophilia is a genetic disorder in which the Carrier mother
Normal
(not colour-blind) xx0 and XY
sufferers (homozygous recessive female and the father
recessiveX-bearing male) are at a risk of bleeding to Normalfather(XY)
death because the blood fails to clot in them. Rare Sperms (two types)
x
casesof haemophiliac males do occur but practically
none of haemophiliac females. x xo xox XOY
Carrier daughter Colour-blind son
The following cases explain the sex-linked o
(X-chromosome linked) inheritance of colour-
blindness (or haemophilia) in humans. Normal daughter Normal son

CRISS-CROSS INHERITANCE
(Motherto Son and Father to daughter) CASE 3
Inheritance of X-Iinked genes as in colour Think of a possibilityof a marriage between
blindnessand haemophiliais also called criss-cross carrier woman (XXO) and a colour blind man
inheritance. This is (XOY). Is there a possibility of the birth of a colour
because the son may get
it from the otherwise blind daughter ? Work out the progeny in the
normal but carrier mother Female Male following Punnett square.
(as in case 2) and a Colour-blindman (X OY)
colour blind father may MOTHER FATHER
sperms (two types)
pass it on to the daughter 8
making her colour-blind if
the mother is a carrier. Daughter: Son
(Refer to case 3, if you 0
have solved it.)

Genetics Some Basic Fundamentals 29

 CHARACTER
DOMINANT
vs.
RECESSIVE
Flower
colour

I. Write the basic unit of heredity ?

2. Define the following terms :- Seed
(i) Allele (ii) Dominant gene colour
(iii) Genotype (iv) Phenotype
Yellow
(v) Recessive gene Green
3. Mention the number of paired homozygous Seed
shape
chromosomes in
(i) Human female (ii) Human male Round
4. Can there be a heterozygous recessive ? Explain. pod
Wrinkled

5. List any four traits in humans which you can colour

easily study just by observing and making Green
family charts. Y9110w
pod
3.11 MENDEL'S EXPERIMENTS ON shape

INHERITANCE Inflated
co

The basic principles of genetics were discovered Flower

for the first time by Gregor John Mendel in the mid- position
nineteenth century. Mendel was an Austrian monk
and he conducted breeding experiments on garden Axillary
Terminal
pea (Pisum sativum) out of sheer interest. His
findings became a milestone in biology.
Plant
Mendel had selectedgarden pea for the following height
reasons :
l. Many varieties were availablein alternative forms
of a character.
2. Varieties were available in pure forms that bred
Tall Dwarf
true, i.e. produced the same type generation after
generation. Fig. 3.6 : Seven pairs of contrastingfeatures
of
3. Peas are normally self-pollinated but self- garden pea studied by Mendel
pollination could be prevented by removing
corresponding reproductive parts (male part CASE 1 : One of the monohybrid crossesisshovsm
stamens and the female part carpels) of the flower below in Fig. 3.7. A pure breeding plantbearing
and could as well be cross-pollinated artificially. terminal flowers was cross-pollinated with a pure
4. The life span of pea plant is short and many breeding plant having axillary flowers (flowersborne
generations can be obtained and studied in less time. in the axil of leaves).
all
The resulting seeds after sowingproduced
Mendel took varieties of pea plant showing plants with axial flowers only (none bearingterminal
seven pairs of contrasting features as shown in Fig.
3.6. flowers). When these hybrid plants (Fl generation')
generation
Mendel crossed pure breeding varieties, first,
by were self-pollinated, they produced in F
taking only one feature at a time (monohybrid
cross) a cross
and then, by taking two featurestogether (dihybrid First filial generation. Filial generation means offspring g
of the
cross). He tried with all the seven featuresand his offsprings. The first, second and third generation
filial generation
known as first filial, second filial and the third
observations were similar for all. are denoted by the symbols Fp F2 and F3 respectively.

30 -
BIOLOGY
CONCISE
 'ssith axillary flowers and plants with terminal Pure tar Dwarf
in the ratio of 3 : l. These were the visible Parents TTxtt
forms which we call the phenotypes. Out of these,
the one with terminal flowers (aa) in subsequent
Tt (Hybridtall) an Tt
Iself-pollinated) generation produced all plants with
kerminalflowers only. Out of the other remaining
•three axillary flowers :
t
One (AA) produced all plants with axillary
flowers only tt e-Genotyperatio
TT Tt Tt
Two (Aa) again produced in the same ratio 3 : 1 Pure Hybrid Hybrid Dwarf
tall tall tall
e Phenotypic
ratk»
as was in F2 generation.

Terminal flowers (aa) Axillary flowers (AA) CASE 3 : Similarly,on crossingthe plants grown
from pure round (RR) seeds with plants grown from
PARENTS pure wrinkled (rr) seeds, the results were as given
a
below :
CROSS- Pollen Ovule
POLLINATION . grain Malo gametes
Parents
All Axillary
Fl (HYBRID) .... flowers (Aa)
Round Round

Gametes : Pollen Ovules Round Round

SELF-
POLLINATION
Malo sox collo
Fl (Hybrid) O
Rr

Round Round

3 Axillary 1 Terminal Round Wrinkled

Fig. 3.7 : Crossing of garden pea bearingterminal

flowers with pea bearing axillary flowers rr Genotypic ratio
through two generations (F, and F2) Round Round Round Wrinkled Phonotypic ratio 1)

This kind of ratio obtained by crossing for two In all the above three cases, the monohybrid
different traits of a single character is known as
ratios are same:
monohybrid ratio. This consisted of the following:
Phenotypic ratio 3 : 1;
Phenotypic (visiblefeature) ratio = 3 : 1 (three axillary Genotypicratio 1 : 2 1
and one terminal)
Some of the generalizædprinciples based on thc
Genotypic (gene feature) ratio
above breeding experiments were as follows :
two Aa and one aa)
1. Each pair of contrasting characters depends on
CASE 2 : Pure tall (TT) pea plants were crossed
a pair of genes.
with dwarf (tt) plants and the progeniesin the Fl
and F, generation were obtained as follows : 2. Each individual carries such genes in duplicate,

31)
 h only one of
jn J/ W'tu•r.itiotj
the ratio —
Genotypic ratio —
Sex with to the they
jct "t Jiljeno'ypic ratio
l)ihybrid rot io the with Genotypic ratio (very cojnplcz)
two o/ ten,
Mendel tried ()jiC 3.12 MENDEL'S LAWS OF INHERITANCE
eon'biii0t ion the crossing of/i variety With round
Mendel"' gcncraJi'/,afion%of the results of breeding
and yellow seccl%with another variety
expcrijncnt%are under three Jaws:
wrinlcicd nnd green
j, Law of J)oniinancc• : 0/11of a pair of contrasting
Round, Yellow Wrinkjod, Groon c/laractcrs present together, only one is able to
express itself while the other remains suppressed,
Round, Yellow
'l ilie one that is the dominant character
Round. Hound, Wrinkled, Wrinkled, and the one unexpressed is the recessive, The
Yellow Groen Yellow Groon recessive character can express only when the
9/10 0/16 3/16 pair consists of both recessives (homozygous
recessive).
The ratio is 9: 3: 3: 1, 2, Law of Segregation (also called tliC law Of purity
Thc above results Cronjparents to F, and then to of gajnetc%): The two members of a pair of
can be easily understood froni the following : factors separate during the formation of gametes.
'I'hey do not blend but segregate or separate into
different garnetes (see Fig. IA). The gametes
combine together by random fusion at the time
of zygote formation.
Hound, yollow Wrinklod, groon
00000(HHYY) ooodo (ryy) 3, Law of Independent Assortment : When there
arc two pairs of characters, the distribution of the
F, gonotation alleles of one character into the gametes is
round, yojlow independent of the distribution of the alleles ofthe
000ds (RcYy) other character (as is seen in the production of
romalo 00/ collo
gametes of the Fj hybrid in clihybrid cross).
Q) Application of Mendel's laws
(i) A knowledge of the basic Mendelian principles
Phonotypic ratio
obtainod
gives us an idea about the new combinations
9/16 aro round, yollow in the progeny of hybrids and enables us to
3/16 aro round, groon predict their frequency.
rrYY try 3/16 aro wrinkled, yollow
1/10 aro wrinklod. groon (ii) Such information is of great importance to
both plant and animal breeders for producing
better breeds.

32 CON( 'ISE BIOIÅ)GY - X

 (iii) New types of plants with new combinations of
useful characters can be produced by
CROSS DWARF
POLLINATION pARENT
hybridisation.
TALL PARENT
3.13 MUTATION
Mutation is a sudden change in one or more
genes, or in the number or in the structure of
HYBRID SEED chromosomes.

Mutation alters the hereditary material of an

organism's cells and results in a change in certain
HYBRID PLANTS characters or traits.
OF THE FIRST
- For example :
GENERATION
ALL TALL
(i) Sickle cell anaemia is a blood disease caused
by a gene mutation. The mutation causes
change in the DNA resulting in the production
of sickle-shaped RBCs.
(ii) Radioactive radiations also alter the gene
structure and their effects can be seen
generation after generation. An atomic
WHEN SELFED, THE HYBRID
PLANTS OF THE FIRST explosion which had occurred during
GENERATION PRODUCE TALL World War-Il 1945 in Japan (Hiroshima,
AND DWARF PLANTS IN THE
RATIO OF Nagasaki),had led to a number of deformities
in the body of plants and animals which are
1

3 TALL DWARF still persisting.

tt WHEN SELFED,
THE DWARF
PLANTS OF THE
Progress Check
SECOND
1
GENERATION
PRODUCE ONLY
1. Who discovered for the first time the basic
DWARF PLANTS principles of genetics?
2. Give the common and scientific names of the
organism on which Gregor Mendel had
worked.
3. Define the following terms .
(i) Monohybrid cross
(ii) Dihybrid cross
(iii) Filial generation
4. Write two characters of pea pod with thier
alternative traits.

PURE TALL PURE

1 2 1 DWARF

Fig. 3.8 : Diagrammatic representationof Mendel's results

obtainedby crossing tall plants with dwarfs of garden pea

Genetics Some Basic Fundamentals 33