Mendel’s Laws of Genetics Unit 5: Genetics Chapter 11

GregorMendel Father of Genetics He studied the garden pea plant – Seed color & shape, flower color, pod color & shape, and height Pea plants have male & female gametes to reproduce sexually – He could select gametes to fertilize

Mendel’s Conclusions 1. Traitsare determined by genes that are passed from one generation to the next. 2. Principle of Dominance: Some alleles are dominant to other alleles – Ex: Purple flowers (P) are dominant to white flowers (p)

3. It is possible to have a trait that seems to have disappeared, reappear in later generations.

segregate 4. Law of Segregation: Alleles segregate (separate) during meiosis – Each gamete only gets one of the two possible alleles – Ex: If a pea plant is tall (Tt), half the gametes will have T and the other half will have t. – After fertilization, the offspring will have 2 alleles, one from mom & one from dad

5. Principle of Independent Assortment: – Alleles sort independently into gametes during meiosis – Genes on different chromosomes are not connected Ex: The gene for eye color is not connected to the gene for hair color.