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17: Inheritance
Keywords:
Chromosome- are made of DNA, found in the nucleus of a cell; it contains genetic
information in the form of many different genes

DNA- a molecule that contains genetic information, in the form of genes, that
controls the proteins that are made in the cell

Gene- a length of DNA that codes for one protein

Alleles- alternative forms of a gene

Messenger RNA (mRNA)- a molecule that carries a copy of the information on DNA
to a ribosome , to be used to synthesize a protein

Expressed - used to make protein; a gene is expressed when the protein that it
codes for is synthesized in a cell

Stem cells- Unspecialized cells that divide by mitosis to produce daughter cell that
can become specialized for specific function
Haploid nucleus - a nucleus containing a single set of unpaired chromosomes
[e.g. in Gametes (sperm and egg cells] which fuse during fertilization to produce a diploid
cell[zygote]

Diploid nucleus-a nucleus containing two sets of chromosomes[e.g.in body cells]

Reduction division- a term used to describe what happens in meiosis, where the
number of chromosomes is halved (reduced)

Homozygous- having two identical alleles of a particular gene (e.g. GG or gg)

Heterozygous- having two different alleles of a particular gene (e.g. Gg)

Genotype- the genetic makeup of an organism in terms of the alleles present

(e.g. GG)

Phenotype- the observable features of an organism

Dominant allele- an allele that is expressed if it is present (e.g. G)

Recessive allele- an allele that is only expressed when there is no dominant allele
of that particular gene is present (e.g g)

Co dominance- alleles that are both expressed in the phenotype when they are both
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present

Inheritance- the transmission of genetic information from generation to generation

Genetic diagram- a standard way of showing all the steps in making predictions
about the probable genotypes and phenotypes of the offspring from two parents

Monohybrid cross- a cross where we consider the inheritance of only one gene

Punnett square- the part of genetic diagram that shows the predicted genotypes
and phenotypes that can result from the random fusion of the male and female
gametes

Test cross- a cross used to try to determine the genotype of an organism showing
the characteristic produced by the dominant allele; the unknown organism is
crossed with one showing the recessive characteristics
Sex chromosomes- chromosomes that determine sex

X chromosome- the larger of the two sex chromosomes in mammals

Y chromosome- the smaller of the two sex chromosomes in mammals

Sex linked genes- genes that are found on a part of one of the sex chromosomes
(usually the X chromosome) and not on the other sex chromosome; they therefore
produce characteristics that are more common in one sex than in the other.

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Inheritance of sex in humans

There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in the nucleus of all diploid human cells. One of these
pairs determine gender. These chromosomes are therefore called the sex chromosomes. For
females these chromosomes are XX and for males the chromosomes are XY. All female egg cells
contain only an X chromosome, whereas male sperm cells may contain an X or a Y, thus the
gender of the baby depends on which sperm cell fertilizes the egg cell.

So, each time a child is conceived, there is 50% chance of it being either sex.

Protein synthesis:
DNA controls the cell function by controlling the production of proteins. To make antibodies,
protein carriers and receptors for neurotransmitters. Protein synthesis is important to
maintain cell structure, as well as for producing enzymes to catalyze metabolic reactions.

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 Fig. How proteins are made

How are Proteins made?

1.The gene coding for the protein remains in the nucleus.

2.messangerRNA (mRNA) is a copy of a gene.
3.mRNA molecules are made in the nucleus and move to the cytoplasm
4. the mRNA passes through ribosomes
5. the ribosome assembles amino acids into protein molecules
6. the specific order of amino acids is determined by the sequence of bases in the m RNA.

As each type of cell has a different function, not every type of protein is synthesized in every
cell. The genes to code for each protein are present in every cell, however. These genes are
therefore switched ‘on’ or ‘off’. When the gene is switched on, it is expressed, and the
protein associated with the gene is synthesized. When the protein is not required, the gene is
switched off.

Q. Explain why body cells can have different specialised functions even though they contain the
same genes

Ans: Not all genes are, expressed or switched on.

Specialised cells only produce the specific proteins they need .

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Cell division:
Haploid nucleus: a nucleus containing a single set of unpaired chromosomes
[e.g. in sperm and egg cells]
Diploid nucleus-a nucleus containing two sets of chromosomes[e.g.in body cells ]

Before cell division each of the chromosomes in the parent cell are copied. This must happen so
that there are enough chromosomes to be shared out into the new cells – for example, in a
human, each cell needs to get 46 chromosomes of its own. Each copy remains attached to the
original one, so each chromosome is made up of two identical threads joined together . The two
identical threads are called chromatids, and the point where they are held together is called the
centromere.

Fig. A chromosome just before cell division.

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 Mitosis

Fig: Chromosomes during the life of a cell dividing by mitosis.

Mitosis:
 Nuclear division giving rise to genetically identical cells
 Exact replication of chromosomes occurs before mitosis
 During mitosis the copies of chromosomes separate, maintaining the
chromosome number in each daughter cells

Mitosis occurs during

 Growth
 Repair of damaged tissue
 Replacement of cells and
 Asexual reproduction

Stem cells:

Stem cells- Unspecialized cells that divide by mitosis to produce daughter cell that
can become specialized for specific function

Stem cells are found in embryos or in the bone marrow. These cells are unspecialized and
divide by mitosis to produce daughter cells which then specialize to have a variety of
functions. Cells, once specialized, cannot produce unspecialized cells. For example, a cell
which makes up the heart tissue cannot divide to make a cell which can act as skin tissue as
the cell produced will already be specialized as a heart cell.

Q. Some cells in shoot tips become leaf cells and others become cells in the stem or in flowers.
Explain why it is important that only some of the genes in cell A are expressed in these cells.
Ans . Plants have different, parts made of specialised cells , different parts made of different
specialised cells, have different, functions. Specific proteins are required in, making specialised
cells. Genes code are required for proteins , therefore some genes, are required and some are
not required.

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 Meiosis:

Fig. How meiosis produces haploid cells from a diploid cell.

Meiosis is used to make four genetically unique daughter cells and is used in the production of
gametes. During meiosis, the chromosome number is halved, and a diploid cell divides to produce
four haploid cells. As each gamete produced is genetically unique, each of the
offspring will also be unique. This is beneficial for a species as it produces genetic variation.

Meiosis:
 Meiosis is involved in the production of gametes
 Meiosis is a reduction division in which the chromosome number is halved from diploid to
haploid resulting in genetically different cells

Q. Explain how meiosis can result in variation in a species.

Ans. Meiosis produces gametes, which are haploid and are genetically different from each other.
Gametes fuse randomly, so zygote or the offspring formed are genetically different from parent.
Sexual reproduction causes variation.

Q. Explain why meiosis is necessary in the testes.

Ans. Meiosis in testes produces, gametes or sperms in sexual reproduction ;
During meiosis the number of chromosomes reduces to half and haploid cells are produced.

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So that when fertilisation occurs the number of chromosomes return to the, same or diploid,
number. Eventually creates genetic variation.

Monohybrid inheritance:
Offspring inherit characteristics from both their mother and father and two sets of genes are
inherited, one from each. If the mother and father pass down the same allele for a particular
trait, e.g. they both pass down the allele for blue eyes, the offspring will have two identical
alleles for this trait, which is referred to as homozygous. If two separate alleles are passed
down, e.g. the mother has blue eyes and the father has brown eyes, the offspring will have two
different alleles for the gene, which is called heterozygous.

If two identical homozygous individuals are bred together, it is referred to as pure-breeding,

and the offspring will have the same characteristics as the parents. Breeding heterozygous
parents is not pure-breeding, as there are a number of different alleles that the offspring could
display in their phenotype.

Alleles can be dominant and recessive. A dominant allele is always expressed if present,
whereas the recessive allele is only expressed in the absence of the dominant allele. For
example, the allele for brown eyes is dominant and the allele for blue eyes is recessive. This
means that if two parents with blue and brown eyes were bred, the offspring would have
brown eyes as this allele is dominant.
Terms:
1.Genotype as the genetic make-up of an organism in terms of the alleles present
2.Phenotype as the observable features of an organism
3.Homozygous as having two identical alleles of a particular gene
[Two identical homozygous individuals that breed together will be pure-breeding ]
4.Heterozygous as having two different alleles of a particular gene
[A heterozygous individual will not be pure-breeding]
5.Dominant as an allele that is expressed if it is present
6.Recessive as an allele that is only expressed when there is no dominant allele of the gene
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present.

Genetic Diagrams

 Monohybrid inheritance is the inheritance of characteristics controlled by a single

gene (mono = one)
 This can be determined using a genetic diagram known as a Punnett square
 A Punnett square diagram shows the possible combinations of alleles that could be
produced in the offspring
 From this the ratio of these combinations can be worked out
 Remember the dominant allele is shown using a capital letter and the recessive
allele is shown using the same letter but lower case

Monohybrid crosses:
Monohybrid crosses are used to predict the ratios of inherited characteristics in a
population. There are always four outcomes. The dominant allele is written as a capital
letter and the recessive as the lowercase of that letter.
E.g. 1) Crossing two heterozygous green and yellow pea plants (both parents contain the
alleles for both traits):

G- green [dominant allele]

g- Yellow [recessive allele]

Parent one → G g
Parent two ↓

G GG Gg

g Gg gg

The outcomes are GG, Gg, Gg and gg. As G is dominant, there is a 75% chance that the
offspring will display this allele in the phenotype and be green. There is a 25% chance that
the offspring will be yellow therefore the ratio is 3:1.

E.g. 2) Crossing a homozygous recessive (yellow) pea plant with a heterozygous pea plant:
G= green (dominant allele)
g= yellow (recessive allele)

Parent one (homozygous) → g g

Parent two (heterozygous) ↓

G Gg Gg

g gg gg


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The outcomes are Gg, Gg, gg and gg. There is a 50% chance of the offspring being green
or yellow, therefore the ratio is 1:1.

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Identifying an Unknown Genotype

 Breeders can use a test cross to find out the genotype of an organism showing the
dominant phenotype
 This involves crossing the unknown individual with an individual showing the recessive
phenotype - if the individual is showing the recessive phenotype, then its genotype
must be homozygous recessive
 By looking at the ratio of phenotypes in the offspring, we can tell whether the
unknown individual is homozygous dominant or heterozygous

‘A plant breeder has a tall plant of unknown genotype. How can they find out whether it
is homozygous dominant or heterozygous?’

 The short plant is showing the recessive phenotype and so must be homozygous
recessive – tt

Determining genotypes from offspring

 If the tall plant is homozygous dominant, all offspring produced will be tall
 If the tall plant is heterozygous, half the offspring will be tall and the other half will
be short

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Family Pedigrees

 Family pedigree diagrams are usually used to trace the pattern of inheritance of a
specific characteristic (usually a disease) through generations of a family
 This can be used to work out the probability that someone in the family will inherit the
genetic disorder

A family pedigree chart

 Males are indicated by the square shape and females are represented by circles
 Affected individuals are red and unaffected are blue
 Horizontal lines between males and females show that they have produced children
(which are shown underneath each couple)
 The family pedigree above shows:
o both males and females are affected
o every generation has affected individuals
o That there is one family group that has no affected parents or children
o the other two families have one affected parent and affected children as well

Codominance:
Some alleles are co-dominant, meaning that neither is recessive, and they are both displayed
in the phenotype. An example of this is blood groups. The three possible alleles for blood
groups are A, B and O. The A and B alleles are co-dominant, which leads to the AB blood
group. O is recessive, and thus is only displayed in the phenotype if both parents have O
blood groups.

When writing codominant alleles, a capital letter is used to show the gene, and a superscript
letter is used to denote the allele, e.g. Cw

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  Inheritance of blood group is an example of codominance
 There are three alleles of the gene governing this instead of the usual two
 Alleles I and I are codominant, but both are dominant to I
A B O

 I represents the gene and the superscript A, B and O represent the alleles
 I results in the production of antigen A in the blood
A

 I results in the production of antigen B in the blood

B

 I results in no antigens being produced in the blood

O

 These three possible alleles can give us the following genotypes and phenotypes:

 We can use genetic diagrams to predict the outcome of crosses that involve
codominant alleles:

‘Show how a parent with blood group A and a parent with blood group B can produce
offspring with blood group O’

Punnett square showing the inheritance of Blood Grou

 The parent with blood group A has the genotype I I A O

 The parent with the blood group B has the genotype I I B O

 We know these are their genotypes (as opposed to both being homozygous) as they
are able to produce a child with blood group O and so the child must have inherited an
allele for group O from each parent
 Parents with these blood types have a 25% chance of producing a child with blood
type O

Q. Explain the term co-dominance.

Ans. Both alleles are, expressed or neither allele is, dominant / recessive to the other .
The phenotype of heterozygous is, intermediate or different .
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Sex-Linked Characteristics

Some genes are located on the sex chromosomes. A characteristic which comes from one
of these genes is referred to as a sex-linked characteristic. A result of this is that some traits
are more common to one gender, for example any gene located on the Y chromosome can
only be present in males as females do not have this chromosome. An example of a sex-
linked characteristic is colour blindness, which is a recessive characteristic found on the X
chromosome.

Fig- Genotypes and phenotypes for red–green colour blindness.

When we write genotypes involving sex-linked genes, we need to show the chromosome as well
as the allele. So, the five possible genotypes and their phenotypes for red–green colour blindness
are:
Genotype phenotype
XBXB woman with normal vision
XBXb woman with normal vision (who is a carrier
XbXb woman with red–green colour blindness
XBY man with normal vision
XbY man with red–green colour blindnes

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Example:
A man has normal eyesight whereas his wife is colour blind. XB is a dominant allele for normal
eyesight whereas Xb is a recessive allele for colour blindness. What is the probability of their
children having:
(a) Colour blindness?
(b) Normal eyesight but a carrier?
Explain your answers using a schematic diagram.

Answer:

(a) 50%
(b) 50%

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