WMendel's Worlc
Whai Does ihe Fulher look like?
1. Observe the colors of each kitten in the photo. Record
each kitten's coat colors and patterns. lnclude as many
details as you can.
2. Observe the mother cat in the photo. Record her coat
color and pattern.
Ihink lt Over
lnfening Based on your observations,
describe what you
think the kittens'father might look like. ldentify the evidence
on which you based your inference.
I
What factors control the
inheritance of traits in
organisms?
Reoding lip Before you read,
preview the section and make
a list of
the boldfaced terms. As
you read, write a definition for
each term in your own words.
Gregor Mendel in the
monastery garden V
he year was 1851. Gregor Mendel, a young priest from a
monastery in Central Europe, entered the University of
Vienna to study mathematics and science. Two years later,
Mendel returned to the monastery and began teaching at a
nearby high school.
Mendel also cared for the monastery's garden, where he grew
hundreds of pea plants. He becarne curious about why some of
the plants had different physical characteristics, or traits. Some
pea plants grew tall while others were short. Some plants produced green seeds, while others had yellow seeds.
Mendel observed that the pea plants'traits were often similar to those of their parents. Sometimes, however, the pea plants
had different traits than their parents. The passing of traits from
parents to offspring is called heredity. For more than ten years,
Mendel experimented with thousands of pea plants to understand the process of heredity. Mendel's work formed the foundation of genetics, the scientific study of heredity.
Mendel's Peas
Mendel made a wise decision when he chose to study peas rather
than other plants in the monastery garden. Pea plants are easy to
study because they have many traits that exist in only two forms.
For example, pea plant stems are either tall or short, but not
medium height. Also, garden peas produce a large number of
offspring in one generation. Thus, it is easy to collect large
amounts of data to analyze.
80.G
Figure
Figure 1 shows a flowering pea plant. Notice that the flower's
petals surround the pistil and the stamens. The pistil produces
female sex cells, or eggs, while the stamens produce the male sex
cells, or pollen.
In nature, pea plants are usually self-pollinating. This means
that pollen from one flower lands on the pistil of the same flower.
Mendel developed a method by which he could cross-pollinate,
or "crossl'pea plants. To cross two plants, he removed pollen from
a flower on one plant and brushed it onto a flower on a second
plant. To prevent the pea plants from self-pollinating, he carefully
removed the stamens from the flowers on the second plant.
'l
Carden peas usuallY
reproduce by self-pollination. Pollen
from a flower's stamens lands on
the pistil of the same flower. Plants
that result from self-pollination
inherit all of their characteristics
from the single parent Plant.
Applying Concepts How did Mendel
prevent his pea plants from selfpollinating?
Mendel's Experiments
Suppose you had a garden full of pea plants, and you wanted to
study the inheritance of traits. lVhat would you do? Mendel
decided to cross plants with opposite forms of a trait, for example, tall plants and short piants. He started his experiments with
purebred plants. A purebred plant is one that always produces
offspring with the same form of a trait as the parent. For example, purebred short pea plants always produce short offspring.
Purebred tall pea plants always produce tall offspring. To produce purebred plants, Mendel allowed peas with one particular
trait to self-pollinate for many generations. By using purebred
plants, Mendel knew that the offspring's trait would always be
identical to that of the parents.
In his first experiment, Mendel crossed purebred tall plants
with purebred short plants. He called these parent plants the
parental generation, or P generation. He called the offspring
from this cross the first filial (rrr ee ul) generation, or the F1 generation. The word filialmeans "son" in Latin.
Chopter3 GaSl
Cregor Mendel presented a
detailed description of his
observations in a scientific
paper in 1866. In the excerpt
that follows, notice how
clearly he describes his
observations of the two
different seed shapes in peas.
"These are either round or
roundish, the depressions, if
any, occur on the surface,
being always only shallow; or
they are irregularly angular
and deeply wrinkled."
/n
You can see the results of Mendel's,first cross in Figure 2. To
Mendel's surprise, all of the offspring in the F1 generation were
tall. Despite the fact that one of the parent plants was short, none
of the offspring were short. The shortness trait had disappeared!
Mendel let the plants in the F, generation grow and allowed
them to self-poiiinate. The results of this experiment also surprised Mendel. The plants in the F2 (second filial) generation
were a mix of tall and short plants. This occurred even though
none of the F1 parent plants were short. The shortness trait had
reappeared. Mendel counted the number of tall and short plants
in the F, generation. He found that about three fourths of the
plants were tall, while one fourth of the plants were short.
Ai Oazca,pa<r'* What
is a purebred
plant?
Other Traits
In addition to stem height, Mendel studied
other traits in
t6onrfrr*n4lr@* garden peas: seed shape, seed color, seed coatsixcolor,
pod shape,
Choose an everyday object,
such as a piece of fruit or a
pen. Make a list of the object's
features. Then write a short
paragraph describing the
object. Use clear, precise
language in your description.
pod color, and flower position. Compare the two forms of each
trait in Figure 3. Mendel crossed plants with these traits in the
same manner as he did for stem height. The results in each
experiment were similar to those that he observed with stem
height. Only one form of the trait appeared in the F1 generation.
However, in the F2 generation the "lost" form of the trait always
reappeared in about one fourth of the plants.
2 When Mendel crossed purebred tall
and short pea plants, all the offspring in the F1
generation were tall. In the F2 generation, three
fourths of the plants were tall, while one fourth
were short.
Figure
P Generation
82.G
F7 Generotion
F2 Generation
Traits
Seed
Seed
Shope
Color
Round
Yellow
Color
Pod
Shape
Gray
Smooth
Seed Coat
FIower
Position
Pod
Color
Stem
Height
Controlled
by Dominont
AIIele
Controlled
by Recessive
.,-
{
Side
r
lfu;", ,@:,
wrinkted Green white
Dominant and Recessive
Pinched
End
Yellow
Figure
Alleles
3
Short
Mendelstudied seven
fl'xil":'.n':ilJ:lit'i*:."'^
From his results, Mendel reasoned that individual factors must Interpreting Diogroml ls yellow seed
by a dominant ollele
colo-r
control the inheritance of traits in peas. The factors that control
-clltlolled
each trait exist in pairs. The female parent contributer
z"i,f!iiii!"ir"l;!,ilryx:i'{ffr":,
"".
while the male parent contributes the other factor.
Mendel went on to reason that one factor in a pair can mask,
or hide, the other factor. The tallness factor, for example, masked
the shortness factor in the F1 generation.
Today, scientists call the factors that control traits genes. They
call the different forms of a gene alleles (uh rnnrz). The gene that
controls stem height in peas, for example, has one allele for tall
stems and one allele for short stems. Each pea plant inherits a
combination of two alleles from its parents-either two alleles
for tall stems, two alleles for short stems, or one of each.
Individual alleles control the inheritance of traits. Some
\
alleles are dominant, while other alleles are recessive.
dominant allele is one whose trait always shows up in the organism when the allele is present. A recessive allele, on the other
hand, is masked, or covered irp, whenever the dominant aliele is
present. A trait controlled by a recessive allele will only show up
if the organism does not have the dominant ailele.
In pea plants, the allele for tall stems is dominant over the allele
for short stems. Pea plants with one allele for tall stems and one
allele for short stems will be tall. The allele for tall stems masks the
allele for short stems. Only pea plants that inherit two recessive
alleles for short stems will be short.
i;.;
A
Chopter3 Ga83
t,
Figure
4
These rabbits have
some traits controlled by dominant
alleles and other traits controlled
by recessive alleles. For example,
the allele for black fur is dominant
over the allele for white fur.
Inferring What combination of
alleles must the white rabbit have?
Wmmdmretmmrud$mg
lMendel's Crosses
You can understand Mendel's results by tracing the inheritance
of alleles in his experiments. The purebred plants in the P generation had two identical alleles for stem height. The purebred
tall plants had two alleles for tall stems. The purebred short
plants had two alleles for short stems. In the F1 generation, all
of the plants received one allele for tall stems from the tall
parent. They received one allele for short stems from the short
parent. The F, plants are called hybrids (uv bridz) because they
have two different alleles for the trait. All the F1 plants are tali
because the dominant allele for tall stems masks the recessive
allele for short stems.
When Mendel crossed the hybrid plants in the F1 generation,
some of the plants inherited two dominant alleles for tall stems.
These plants were tall. Other plants inherited one dominant
allele for tall stems and one reCessive allele for short stems. These
plants were also tall. Other plants inherited two recessive alleles
for short stems. These plants were short.
*iQaeca,pa<r'* If a pea plant has a tall stem, what possible
combinations of alleles could it have?
Ws$mg SywwuboHs im
Genetics
Geneticists today use a standard shorthand method to write
about alleles in genetic crosses. Instead of using words such as
"tall stems" to represent alleles, they simply use letters. A
84.G
dominant allele is represented by a capital letter. For example, the allele for tall stems is represented by T A recessivt
ult.l. is represented by the lowercase version of the letter. So,
the allele ior short stems would be represented by f. When a
plant inherits two dominant alleles for tall stems, its alleles
alleles
are written as TI When a plant inherits two recessive
for short stems, its alleles are written as tt' When a plant
inherits one allele for tall stems and one allele for short stems,
its alleles are written as Tt.
Mendel's Contribution
to a scientific society
that met regularly near the monastery' In his p-ap-:r' Mendel
described ihe principles of heredity he had discovered.
In
1866, Mendel presented his results
Unfortunately, other scientists did not understand the importance of Mendel's work. Some scientists thought that Mendel
had oversimplified the process of inheritance. Others never
read his pup.r, or even heard about his work. At that time,
scientists in different parts of the world were isolated from
each other. Mendel *ui .rp..ially isolated because he wasn't
at a university. Remember, there were no telephones, and no
'
computers to send electronic mail.
three
1900'
In
34yearc'
for
Mendel's work was forgotten
different scientists rediscovered Mendel's work. They had
made many of the same observations as Mendel had. The scientists quickly recog1rzed the importance of Mendel's work.
Many o? the genetic principles that Mendel discovered still
stand to this Jay. necause of his work, Mendel is often called
the Father of Genetics.
5
The dominant allele for
skin color in summer squasn
vellow
'is
represented by the letter Y. The
recessive allele for green skin color
is represented bY the letter Y.
Figure
(HAFTEN
**T*t
.
r
By
you should have
'rpw
,.
Cdregfr ffffqdfl @e+=,i. ,
n. Explain how the inheritance of traits is
controlled in organisms. Use the terms genes
and olleles in Your exPlanation.
2. What is a dominant allele? What is a recessive
allele? Cive an examPle of each.
3. The allele for round seeds is represented by R'
Suppose that a pea plant inherited two
recessive alleles for wrinkled seeds. How would
yoqr write the symbols for its alleles?
4. Thinking €ritically Applying Concepts
Can a short pea plant ever be a hybrid? Why
or why not?
constructed your paper pet. On
rne bactg write what alleles your pet
has
for each trait. Use XX forc t'.rnlfil"J"
XY for a male. The dominant
atteteiior
the other four traits are: g (blue skin),
e.yes), f (trianguti, nor.j,
| (pointed
lroynO
P
unO
lg"!trl. @int: tfyour. p.i f,u, u
trait controlled
by a dominant,ff"f., ut,
can choose which of the possible ' / -"
combinations of alleles your pet
has.)
Chopter3 Ga85
3.
this lab, you'll explore how greatly traits
can vary in a group of people-your
n
For trait
F,
wash and dry your hands. Taste the PTC
paper your teacher gives you. Circle either "can
taste PTC" 0r "cannot taste PTC" in your data
classmates.
table. CAUTI0N= Never taste any substance in the
Problem
lab unless directed to by your teacher
4.
Are traits controlled by dominant alleles more
common than traits controlled by recessive alleles?
Count the number of students who have each
trait. Record that number in your data table. Also
record the total number of students.
Materials
t
DATA TAFLE
mirror (optional) PTC paper
Procedu
Part
Total Numbar
r"6
Trait I
1 Dominant
and
Recesrive Alleles
1. Write a hypothesis reflecting your
2.
Number Trait'2
A Free ear
Iqba*
Number
Attached
ear lobes
F Hair on fin1era
I
No hair on fin7era
ideas about the problem question.
C Wtdow'o peak
No widow'a peak
Then copy the data table.
D Curly hair
1tratqttt hair
For traits A, B, C, D, and E, work
E Cleft chrn
with a paftner to determine which
trait you have, Circle that trait in
your data table.
?mooth chin
r
.
Can
taete
?TC ota nd e
Cannot {aste FTC"
FTC"
for
ph
enylthio ca rb a mid
e,
tuffi
Free ear lobe
Attached ear lobe
No widow's peak
85.G
No hair on fingers
CIeft chin
No cleft chin
Part 2 Are Your Traits Unlque?
How many students ended up on the same
5, Look at the circle of traits below, All the traits
number on the circle of traits? How many
students were the only ones to have their
number? What do the results suggest about
each person's combination of traits?
Think About
Do your data support the
in your data table appear in the circle, Place
the eraser end of your pencil on the trait in the
small central circle that applies to you-either
free ear lobes or attached ear lobes.
6. Look at the two traits touching the space your
eraser is on, Move your eraser onto the next
description that applies to you. Continue using
your eraser to trace your traits until you reach
a number on the outside rim of the circle.
Share that number with your classmates.
lt
hypothesis you proposed in Step 1? Explain
your answer with examples.
Design an Experiment
Do people who are related to each other show
more genetic similarity than unrelated people?
Write a hypothesis. Then design an experiment
Analyze and Conclude
to test your hypothesis.
1. The traits listed under Trait 1 in the data iable
are controlled by dominant alleles. The traits
listed underfrait2 are controlled by recessive
alleles, Which traits controlled by dominant
alleles were shown by a majority of
students? Which traits controlled
by recessive alleles were
shown by a majority
of students?
Chapter3 Ga87
p
I urrc nnrtNG M ernrrn nrrcs
&
@ Probability and Genetics
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1. Suppose you were to toss a coin 20 times.
Predict how many times the coin would
land "heads up" and how many times it
would land "tails up."
2. Now test your prediction by tossing a coin
20 times. Record the number of times the
coin lands heads up and the number of
times it lands tails up.
3. Combine the data from the entire class.
Record the total number of tosses, the
number of heads, and the number of tails.
Ihink lt Over
Predicting How did your results in Step 2
compare to your prediction? How can you
account for any differences between your
results and the class results?
a
he city of Portland, Oregon, was founded in the mid-1800s.
I
How do the principles of
probability help explain
Mendel's results?
I
How do geneticists use
Punnett squares?
Reading lip Before you read,
rewrite the headings in the
section as questions that begin
with how, whot, or why. Asyou
read, look for answers to these
questions.
TWo men, Asa L. Lovejoy and Francis W. Pettygrove,
owned the land on which the new city was built. Lovejoy,
who was from Massachusetts. wanted to name the new town
Boston. Pettygrove, however, thought the town should be named
after his hometown, Portland, Maine. To settle the dispute, they
decided to toss a coin. Pettygrove won, and the new town was
named Portland.
What was the chance that Pettygrove would win the coin
toss? To answer this question, you need to understand the principles of probability. Probability is the likelihood that a particular event will occur
Principles of Probability
If you did the Discover activity, you used the principles of probability to predict the results of a particular event. Each time you
toss a coin, there are two possible ways that the coin can landheads up or tails up. Each of these two events is equally likely to
occur. In mathematical terms, you can say that the probability
that a tossed coin will land heads up is I in 2. There is aiso a
1in2 probability that the coin will land tails up. A I in 2 probabitity can also be expressed as the fraction j or as a percent50 percent.
If you tossed a coin 20 times, you might expect it to land
heads up 10 times and tails up 10 times. However, you might not
actually get these resuits. You might get 11 heads and 9 tails, or
8 heads and 12 tails. Remember that the laws of probability predict what is likely to occur, not necessarily what will occur.
However, the more tosses you make, the closer your actual results
will be to the results predicted by probability.
\Arhen you toss a coin more than once, the results of one toss
do not affectthe results of the next toss. Each event occurs inde-
pendently. For example, suppose you toss a coin five times and
it lands heads up each time. What is the probability that it will
land heads up on the next toss? Because the coin landed heads up
on the previous five tosses, /ou might think that it would be
likely to land heads up on the next toss. Howevet this is not the
case. The probability of the coin landing heads up on the next
toss is still 1 in2, or 50 percent. The results of the first five tosses
do not affect the results of the sixth toss.
Why is there a 1 in 2 probability that atossed coin
willlandheads up?
d eAa6fa4rir
{w*earfiw*f;mg Ferc*xt$
One way you can express a
probability is as a percent.
A percent (o/o) is a number
compared to 100. For
example, 50olo means 50
out of 100.
Suppose that 3 out of 5
tossed coins landed heads up.
Here's how you can calculate
what percent of the coins
landed heads up.
1. Write the cdmparison as a
fraction.
1
3outofs=
5
2. Multiply the fraction by
100o/o to express it as a
percent.
3
5,
600/o
loOo/o
1
=600/o
of the coins landed
heads up.
Now, suppose 3 out of 12
coins landed tails up. How can
you express this as a percent?
Figure 6 According to the
laws of probability, there is a
50 percent probability that
the coin will land heads up.
Calculating What is the
probobility that the coin will
land tails up?
Chapter3 Ga89
Mendel and Probability
How is probability related to genetics? To answer this question,
think back to Mendel's experiments with peas. Remember that
Mendel carefully counted the offspring from every cross that he
carried out. \Mhen Mendel crossed two plants that were hybrid
for stem height (7r), three fourths of the F1 plants had tall stems.
One fourth of the plants had short stems.
Each time Mendel repeated the cross, he obtained similar
results. Mendel realized that the mathematical principles of
probability applied to his work. He could say that the probability of such a cross producing a tall plant was 3 in 4. The probability of producing a short plant was 1 in 4. Mendelwas the first
scientist to recognizethat the principles of probability can be
used to predict the results of genetic crosses.
Punnett Squares
A tool that can help you understand how the laws of probability
apply to genetics is called a Punnett square. A Punnett square is
a chart that shows all the possible combinations of alleles that
can result from a genetic cross. Geneticists use Punnett squares
to show all the possible outcomes of a genetic cross and to
determine the probability of a particular outcome.
The Punnett square in Figure 7 shows a cross between two
hybrid tall pea plants (7r). Each parent can pass either of its alleles, T or t, to its offspring. The possible alleles that one parent
can pass on are written across the top of the Punnett square. The
possible alleles that the other parent can pass on are written
down the left side of the Punnett square. The boxes in the
Punnett square represent the possible combinations of alleles that the offspring can
inherit. The boxes are filled in like a multiplication problem, with one allele contributed
by each parent.
*',t
',f,^'
'@
&..i,,
&'s
@
t"
T
'
..f,,/*
q
ffi
r*
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it
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'ry
Tt
25o/o
ry
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t
funnett Square You can use a
Punnett square to calculate the probability
that offspring with a certain combination of
alleles will result. The allele that each parent
will pass on is based on chance, just like the
toss of a coin. Thus, there are four possible
combinations of alleles that can result. The
Urimg a
bd,
,%S
IW
1
Tt
25o/o
@.
dap"
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tt
25o/o
Figure
7 This Punnett square shows
two hybrid tall pea
plants. lnterpreting Charts Which allele
a cross between
combinations will result in tall offspring?
90. G
,rw
b
-a. .,
'i
*##
ffieffib'
Figure 8 This Punnett square
shows a cross between a black
guinea pig (BB) and a white guinea
pig (bb). Colculoting What is the
probability that an offspring will have
white fur?
. py..
*d
bb
probability that an offspring will be TTis 1 in 4, or 25 percent.
The probability that an offspring will be ff is also I in 4, or 25
percent. Notice, however, that the Tt allele combination appears
in two boxes in the Punnett square. This is because there are two
possible ways in which this combination can occur. The probability, then, that an offspring will be Tt rs 2 in 4, or 50 percent.
Recall that when Mendel performed this cross, he discovered
that about three fourths of the plants (75o/o) had tall stems. The
remaining one fourth of the plants (25o/o) had short stems. Now
you can understand why that was true. Plants with the TTallele
combination would be tall. So too would those plants with the 7r
allele combination. Remember that the dominant allele masks
the recessive allele. Only those plants with the tt allele combination would be short.
Predicting ProhabitrEtfies You can also use a Punnett squ?re
to predict probabilities. For example, Figure 8 shows a cross
between a purebred black guinea pig and a purebred white
guinea pig. The allele for black fur is dominant over the allele for
white fur. Notice that only one allele combination is possible in
the offspring-Bb.All of the offspring will inherit the dominant
allele for black fur. Because of this, all of the offspring will have
black fur. You can predict that there is a 100% probability that
the offspring will have black fur.
*i eAecafat,* If two guinea pigs with the allelesBb
are crossed,
trwEf
ffiw&m ffs-wss*ru
Here's how
you can use
coins to model Mendel's cross
between two ft pea plants.
1. Place a small piece of
masking tape on each side
of two coins.
2. Write a f (for tall) on one
side of each coin and a f
(for short) on the other.
3. Toss both coins together
20 times. Record the letter
combinations that you
obtain from each toss.
Interpreting Dsfa How many
of the offspring would be tall
plants? (Hint; What different
letter combinations would
result in a tall plant?) How
many would be short?
Convert your results to
percents. Then compare your
results to Mendel's.
what is the probability that an offspringwillhave white fur?
Choprer3 G<t9l
PFrenotypes and Genotypes
Figure 9 The phenotype of an
organism is its physical appearance.
Its genotype is its genetic makeup.
Two useful terms that geneticists use to describe organisms are
phenotype and genotype. An organism's phenotype (rnE noh
typ) is its physical appearance, or its visible traits. For example,
pea plants can have one of two different phenotypes for stem
height-short or tall.
An organism's genotnre (lEN uh typ) is its genetic makeup,
or allele combinations. To understand the difference between
phenotype and genotype, look at the table in Figure 9. Although
all of the tall plants have the same phenotype (they are all tall),
they can have two different genotypes-TT or Tt.If youwere to
look at the tall plants, you would not be able to tell the difference between those with the TTgenotype and those with the Tr
genotype. The short pea plants, on the other hand, would all
have the same phenotype-short 5fgrn5-ns well as the same
genotype-tt
Geneticists use two additional terms to describe an organism's genotype. An organism that has two identical alleles for a
trait is said to be homozygous (hoh moh zv gus) for that trait.
A tall pea plant that has the alleles TT and a short pea plant with
the alleles tt are both homozygous. An organism that has two
different alleles for atrait is'said to be heterorygous (het ur oh
zv gus) for that trait. A tall pea plant with the alleles Tr is heterozygous. Mendel used the term hybrid to describe heterozygous pea plants.
d
e4"r14"r:t
t
If a pea plant's genotype isTt, what is its phenotype?
Codominance
For all of the traits that Mendel studied, one
allele was dominant while the other was recessive. This is not always the case. For some
alleles, an inheritance pattern called codominance exists. In codominance, the alleles are
neither dgminant nor recessive. As a result,
neither allele is masked in the offspring.
Look at the Punnett square in Figure 11.
Mendel's principle of dominant and recessive alleles does not explain why the heterozygous chickens have both black and white
feathers. The alleles for feather color are
Figure 1O In Erminette chickens,
the alleles for black feathers and
white feathers are codominant.