Cell & Molecular Biology: Mendel's Genetics

A characteristic that can be passed down from parents to offspring, such as eye color, hair color, or flower color.

The idea that genetic material mixes like paint, resulting in a uniform population over generations.

Traits passed down from parents to offspring retain their separate identities, like marbles in a bucket.

A heritable feature, like flower color or plant height.

A specific variant of a character, like purple or white flowers.

Gregor Mendel's choice of organism for his inheritance studies, due to their diverse traits and controlled reproduction.

The process where a plant fertilizes itself.

Traits that have only two clear possibilities, like purple or white flowers.

An organism with two different alleles for a particular gene. For example, a pea plant with the genotype Pp, where 'P' represents the dominant allele for purple flowers and 'p' represents the recessive allele for white flowers.

The physical appearance or observable traits of an organism, determined by its genotype.

The genetic makeup of an organism, represented by the combination of alleles it possesses.

A cross between an individual with an unknown genotype and a homozygous recessive individual to determine the unknown genotype. This is done to determine whether the dominant phenotype of the unknown individual is due to a homozygous dominant or heterozygous genotype.

A cross between two individuals that differ in two or more characters. For example, crossing a pea plant with yellow round seeds (YYRR) with a plant having green wrinkled seeds (yyrr).

The alleles for different characters (traits) are transmitted independently of one another during gamete formation. This means that the inheritance of one trait does not influence the inheritance of another.

A variety of plant that, when self-pollinated, produces only offspring with the same trait.

The parent generation in a breeding experiment, involving two contrasting, true-breeding varieties.

The mating or crossing of two different varieties of organisms, often contrasting in a specific trait.

The offspring resulting from the cross-pollination of two true-breeding parent plants (P generation).

The offspring produced by the self-pollination of F1 generation plants.

The principle that during gamete formation, the two alleles for a character separate, so that each gamete receives only one allele.

Alternative forms of a gene that account for variations in a trait.

The allele that expresses its trait even when paired with a different allele.

The allele that does not express its trait when paired with a dominant allele.

An organism with two identical alleles for a trait.

A character with a wide range of variation, like human height or skin color, rather than just two or more distinct possibilities.

The inheritance pattern where multiple genes contribute to a single trait, leading to a range of phenotypes.

The effect of multiple genes on a single trait, often resulting in a bell-shaped distribution of phenotypes.

The range of phenotypic possibilities for a given genotype, influenced by the environment.

Traits influenced by both genetic and environmental factors.

A type of inheritance where the F1 hybrids have a phenotype that is a blend of the two parental phenotypes, resulting in an intermediate appearance.

A type of inheritance where both alleles are expressed separately in the phenotype, leading to a combined effect.

The ability of a single gene to influence multiple phenotypic traits.

A situation where one gene's expression masks the expression of another gene at a different locus.

A form of inheritance where a single gene has more than two allelic forms.

The situation where a gene's expression is modified by factors other than its alleles, such as environmental factors.

The principle that during gamete formation, alleles of different genes separate independently of one another.