Genetics and Inheritance

the study of heredity

which characteristics are passed from parents to their offspring

stretches of DNA that are specific to a particular characteristic

all of the genes of an organism

versions of the gene that code for a specific characteristic’s trait

mating and production of offspring

plants in which offspring have exhibited the same traits over many generations

specific type of breeding in which different species or different varieties are bred together to produce a hybrid

a way that many plants reproduce through the act of transferring pollen from the male part of the plant to the female part of the plant to form seeds

true bred plants that are cross bred with each other

first generation of hybrid offspring, often identifies the dominant gene

second hybrid generation, starts to show the effects of hybridization

an organism’s set of observable characteristics

an organism’s genetic composition

an individual has two copies of the same allele

an individual has two different alleles

• Law of segregation • Law of independent assortment • Law of dominance

every organism acquires 2 alleles for each trait, one from each parent

the separation of alleles for a given gene occurs independently of any other gene

genets that are located on the same chromosome and therefore are inherited together

a dominant allele will always be completely expressed if it’s present in an organism’s genetic code, even if only one parent contributed a dominant allele

an allele that is expressed completely even if there is only one copy

an allele that is expressed completely only if there are two copies

a way of diagramming the probabilities of offspring exhibiting certain characteristics