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ABG - Introduction to ABG by Meesum

The document provides an overview of animal breeding and genetics, covering key concepts such as heredity, genes, alleles, and karyotypes. It outlines the historical development of genetics from Darwin's theories to the Human Genome Project, highlighting significant discoveries and contributions from various scientists. The information emphasizes the importance of genetic variation and the molecular structure of DNA in understanding heredity and evolution.

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10 views21 pages

ABG - Introduction to ABG by Meesum

The document provides an overview of animal breeding and genetics, covering key concepts such as heredity, genes, alleles, and karyotypes. It outlines the historical development of genetics from Darwin's theories to the Human Genome Project, highlighting significant discoveries and contributions from various scientists. The information emphasizes the importance of genetic variation and the molecular structure of DNA in understanding heredity and evolution.

Uploaded by

meesummuneer638
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Introduction to Animal

Breeding and Genetics


Genetics
• Science of heredity and variation and involves studying the structure
and function of genes
• And the way genes are passed from one generation to the next.
Heredity
• This tendency of individuals to resemble their progenitors is called
heredity.
• Human beings have 3 x 109 base pair equivalent of DNA. The length of
DNA per cell is 2 meters.
Gene
• A gene is the basic physical and functional unit of heredity.
• Genes, which are made up of DNA, act as instructions to make
molecules called proteins.
• The Human Genome Project has estimated that humans have
between 20,000 and 25,000 genes.
Alleles
• They are forms of the same gene with small differences in their
sequence of DNA bases.
• These small differences contribute to each person’s unique physical
features.
•
Karyotype
• The particular array of chromosomes in a eukaryotic cell is
called its karyotype.
• Number and structure of the chromosomes present in a
cell.
• Used to detect chromosomal abnormalities that may be
associated with specific genetic traits or defects.
• To detect Gene locus
History of Genetics
• 1859 Darwin publishes The Origin of Species.
Ernst Mayr summarised (The Origin of
Species)
• Every species is fertile enough that if all offspring survived to
reproduce the population would grow (fact).
• Despite periodic fluctuations, populations remain roughly the same
size (fact).
• Resources such as food are limited and are relatively stable over time
(fact).
• A struggle for survival ensues (inference).
cont.
• Individuals in a population vary significantly from one another (fact).
• Much of this variation is heritable (fact).
• Individuals less suited to the environment are less likely to survive
and less likely to reproduce and vice versa (inference).
• This slowly effected process results in populations changing to adapt
to their environments, and ultimately, these variations accumulate
over time to form new species (inference).
1865 Gregory Mendel
• Mendel gave the idea about genes
• Traits are carried by discrete units, or genes
• Genes come in pairs and are inherited as distinct units, one from each
parent
• Mendel tracked the segregation of parental genes and their
appearance in the offspring as dominant or recessive traits
1869 Miescher
• Miescher discovers "nuclein" (DNA) in the cells from pus in open
wounds
• Miescher separated protein and nucleic acid molecule. Suspected of
exerting some function in the hereditary process
1918-1926 Muller
• Muller formulated the chief principles of spontaneous gene
mutation as point effects of ultramicroscopic physico-chemical
accidents.
• He induces such changes using X-rays
• The gene constitutes the basis of life and evolution by virtue of its
property of reproducing its own internal changes
• In 1920s Nucleic acid found to be a major component of the
chromosomes.
1930s- Chemical nature of nuclei acid
• In 1930s Chemical nature of nuclei acid was investigated.
• It was thought to be a tetranucleotide composed of one unit each of
adenylic, guanylic, thymidylic and cytidylic acids
• In 1940 The molecular weight of nucleic acid was found to be much
higher than the tetranucleotide hypothesis required
1944 Oswald Avery
• Oswald Avery identified nucleic acid as the active principle in bacterial
transformation

• Transformation
• The genetic alteration of a cell resulting from the direct uptake and
incorporation of exogenous genetic material (exogenous DNA) from
its surroundings and taken up through the cell membrane(s).
Transformation
1950 Erwin Chargaff
• Erwin Chargaff shows that the four nucleotides are not present in
nucleic acids in stable proportions
• Nucleotide composition differs according to its biological source.
• The nucleic acids are not monotonous polymers.
1952 - Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase
• Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase showed that DNA rather than
proteins carry genetic information.
• on infection of the host bacterium by a virus, at least 80% of the viral
DNA enters the cell and at least 80% of the viral protein remains
outside.
1953 - Watson and Crick
• Watson and Crick determine that DNA is a double-strand helix of
nucleotides.
• Nucleotide: deoxyribose sugar + phosphate group + one of four
nitrogenous bases
• Nitrogenous bases:
• two purines adenine(A) and guanine(G)
• two pyrimidines cytosine(C) and thymine(T)
• How nucleotides joined: The nucleotides are joined together by
covalent bonds between the phosphate of one nucleotide and the
sugar of the next, forming a phosphate-sugar backbone from which
the nitrogenous bases protrude.
• How two strands joined: The two strands are linked by selective
hydrogen bonds:
• A = T and G ≡ C
1970s – Regulator genes
• 1970s - The discovery of regulator genes
• genes that control the timing and output of structural genes
2000: The Human Genome Project
• 2000: The Human Genome Project presented its preliminary results:
• Eeach of the body's 100 trillion cells contains some 3.1 billion
nucleotide units.
• Only 1% of these are thought to be transcriptional, clustered in
possibly as few as 30,000 genes.

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