HERIDITY AND EVOLUTION

CLASS-X

HANDOUT-2

APPEARANCE OF VARIATIONS DURING REPRODUCTION:

• Variations are responsible for differences in the offspring generation

after generation.
• Variation during sexual reproduction appear due to errors during DNA
replication at the time of cell division, mutations i.e alteration in genetic
material, random union of male and female gametes.
• Variation during asexual reproduction appears due to small inaccuracies
in DNA replication.
• All variation is not advantageous to the organisms at the time. Their
survival value in the population depends on their utility to the organism
in a given environment.
• Depending upon the nature of variations, different individuals would
have different kind of advantages. For instance, bacteria that can
withstand heat will survive better in heat wave.

❖ HERIDITY: Transmission of characters from parents to off spring

,i.e., from one generation to the next generation is called
heredity.

• Mendel introduced the concept that each character is controlled by a factor.

These factors are present in all the cells of body in pairs. Gametes transport
these factors to next generation.
• Both male and female gametes contribute equal amount of genetic material
to child. It means each trait is influenced by both paternal and maternal
DNA.

Mendel and his contribution in Genetics

• G.J. Mendel started his work on Pisum sativum (garden pea). He was known as Father of
genetics. He had chosen seven pair of contrasting character
The reason of choosing garden pea for experiment was-

• Short life cycle

• Large number of seeds produced

• Self-pollination

• Clear cut differences

Mendel Laws

• Mendel conducted breeding experiment in three steps:

o Selection of pure plants ie. Plants producing similar traits in every
generation.
o Production of first generation of plants by cross breeding.
o Rising of second and subsequent generations by self fertilization.
• Mendel conducted crosses considering one trait i.e size of plant(tall or
dwarf) or color of flower (violet or white).He designated such crosses as
monohybrid cross.
• In one such cross, Mendel selected two sets of pure breeding pea plants with
contrasting characters for height. Mendel called these plants homozygous
tall and homozygous dwarf.
• These plants formed the parent generation. The pollen grain were collected
from a flower of tall plant and dusted over the pistil of dwarf plant.
• The seeds produced by cross pollinating these generation plants were grown
to produce hybrid plants. These belong to first filial generation (F-1
generation) all the plants of F-1 generation were tall.
• The plants of F-1 generation were self pollinated. The plants raised from the
seeds of F-1 plants belonged to second filial generation( F-2 generation )
• Mendel noted that 75% plants of F-2 generation were tall and 25% were
dwarf
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQltEeAPtIk
• (Video showing monohybrid cross and explanation of law of dominance and
law of segregation)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnCNmFAq184
• (Video showing dihybrid cross and explanation of law of independent
assortment)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7VMXUk6TEg&feature=emb_logo
• (Video of mono hybrid cross)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYN-vYqu9hQ
• (Video of why Mendel chose pea plant)
tall : dwarf
MENDEL’S INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS

• The height of pea plants is controlled by a pair of contrasting factors. A plant

is tall because it possesses factors for tallness(represented by T) and dwarf
because it possesses factors for dwarfness (represented by t) .
• These factors occur in pairs i,e, a tall plant has TT and a short plant has tt.
• All F-1 plants are hybrids and have a factor Tt. They are tall because T
factor dominates t factor. Thus T is a dominant genes, tallness is a dominant
character and t is a recessive genes, shortness a recessive character.
• Thus Law of Dominance states, out of a pair of contrasting characters
present together only one is able to express itself while the other remain
suppressed. The one that express is the dominant character and unexpressed
is the recessive. The recessive character can express only when the pair
consist of both recessives .This phenomenon of appearance of only one of
the two contrasting traits in F1 generation is termed as law of dominance.
• Allele pair segregate from each other during the formation of gamete so each
gamete carries only one allele for each inherited trait. When male and female
gamete unite during fertilisation, each contribute its allele restoring the
paired condition in the offspring . This is called Law of segregation.
• There are four possible combinations of these genes during random fusion of
F-1 gametes(TT,Tt,Tt and tt).As a result ,both the tall and short plants are
formed in F-2 generation in 3:1 ratio.

RECAPULATION
• Who is called a father of Genetics?
• Which of the following represent tall plants and which represent dwarf
plants?
(a)Tt (b)tt (c)TT
Give reason for your choice.
• Give reasons why Mendel selected pea plants for his experiment?
• What is meant by dominant genes and recessive genes?
• Explain Law of dominance and Law of segregation.

DIHYBRID INHERITENCE
• Such crosses which were made to study the inheritance of two pair of
contrasting characters simultaneously are referred as dihybrid crosses.
• Mendel selected pure breeding plants for(a) yellow and green colour of
seeds (b) round and wrinkled shape of seeds.
• The seeds produced as a result of cross pollination belonged to F-1
generations All the seeds produced were yellow and round.
• Plants of F-1 generation were self-pollinated. On self-pollination, the
seeds produced belonged to F-2 generation in the following ratio:
• Yellow and round-9
Yellow and wrinkled-3
Green and round-3
Green and wrinkled-1
Mendel’s interpretation

• In the inheritance of two pairs of contrasting characters, the distribution

of factors of each pair in gametes is independent of the distribution of
other pair .It means during gamete formation, segregating pairs of unit
factor assort independent of each other. This is called Law of
independent assortment of character.

SEX DETERMINATION IN HUMANS

• Each human cell has 23 pairs of chromosomes. Out of these 23 pairs
,22 pairs of chromosomes are called autosomes. The chromosomes of
23rd pair are different in males and females. They are called sex
chromosomes. They are responsible for the development of sex in
human being.
• Thus human female has 44+XX chromosomes
• Human male has 44+XY chromosome
• All the eggs produced by a female have only X chromosome.
 • The sperm
produced by a male are
of two types. Half of the
sperm have X
chromosome while the
other half have Y
chromosome.
• The sex of the
child is determined by
the type of sperm that
fuses with the egg.
• All boys and girls
receive one X-
chromosome from mother.
• Girls receive their second X-chromosome from father and boys
receive their Y-chromosome from father.
• In some animals the temperature at which fertilized eggs are kept determines whether the
developing animals will be males or females.
• Some animals like snails can change sex indicating that sex is not genetically determined.
• In human beings sex of the individual is determined genetically; means genes inherited
from the parents decide the sex of the offspring.