HEREDITY
Class 10
By: Ramandeep Kaur
Introduction
Heredity refers to the passing of characteristics from one generation
to the next.
In this chapter we will learn about
1. What is heredity?
2. Types of traits
3. Genotype and phenotype
4. Homozygous and heterozygous
5. Mendel’s work on heredity
6. Monohybrid cross
7. Di hybrid cross
8. Laws of inheritance
9. Sex determination
Heredity
The transfer of traits from one generation to the next is termed
heredity.
Genes are the functional units of heredity, that transfer
characteristics from parents to offspring.
Genes are short stretches of DNA that code for a specific protein
Sexual reproduction
The mode of reproduction involves two individuals; one male and
one female.
They produce sex cells or gametes which fuse to form a new
organism.
Genes
Gene is the functional unit of heredity.
Every gene controls one or several particular characteristic features
in living organisms.
Heredity
The process by which the features of an organism are passed on
from one generation to another is called heredity.
The process is done by genes, which define the characters in the
organism.
Traits
Traits are characteristic features of an organism, manifested in a
physical form that is visible or in a physiological aspect of the
organism.
Acquired characters
• The traits that are acquired by an organism over the period of
its lifetime are termed acquired characteristics.
• These characters that are not passed on to the DNA of germ
cells do not get transferred to the next generation. E.g. loss of
muscles and less weight due to starvation, loss of limb or tails
due to injury, dancing, singing, body building etc.
Inherited characters
• The traits that are inherited from the parents are called
inherited characters
• These traits always get transferred to the next generation but
depending on the dominance or recessiveness they may or
may not be expressed.
• Examples are height, skin colour and eye colour.
Mendel’s work
Gregor Johann Mendel, known as ‘Father of Genetics’, was an
Austrian Monk who worked on pea plants to understand the concept
of heredity.
His work laid the foundation of modern genetics.
Why pea plant?
• Easy to grow
• Short life cycle
• Self pollination possible
• Easy to observe characters
• Large no. of offsprings.
• Seven distinct traits
Dominant traits
The traits that express themselves in an organism in every possible
combination and can be seen are called Dominant traits.
• In Mendel’s experiment, we see that the tall trait in pea plants
tends to express more than the short trait.
• Therefore, the tall trait of the plant is said to be dominant over
the dwarf trait.
Recessive traits
• A trait which is not expressed in the presence of a dominant
allele is known as recessive.
• So, recessive character/trait is present in an organism but
cannot be seen if a dominant allele exists.
Homozygous and Heterozygous
If an organism has two copies of the same allele, for example
AA or aa, it is homozygous for that trait. If the organism has
one copy of two different alleles, for example Aa, it is
heterozygous.
Genotype and phenotype
An organism’s genotype is the set of genes that it carries.
For example – Genes for eye colour
An organism’s phenotype is all of its observable characteristics — which are
influenced both by its genotype and by the environment.
For example – skin colour
Monohybrid cross
• When only one character is considered while crossing two
organisms, then such a cross is as a monohybrid cross.
• The ratio of characters, arising out of this cross, at F2
generation is called the monohybrid ratio.
• E.g., If a tall plant (TT) is crossed with a dwarf plant (tt), we get 3
tall:1 short plant at the end of the F2 generation.
• So, 3:1 is a monohybrid ratio.
• Here, the height of the plant is considered at a time.
Dihybrid cross
• When two characters are considered while crossing two
organisms, then such a cross is known as a dihybrid cross.
• The ratio of characters, arising out of this cross, at F2
generation is called the dihybrid ratio.
• E.g., If a plant with round and green pea is crossed with a plant
with wrinkled and yellow pea,
• The first generation plants would all have round and green
peas.
• On crossing the same for an F2 generation, we would observe
four combinations of characters in the ratio of 9:3:3:1.
Thus, 9:3:3:1 is the dihybrid ratio.
.
Laws of Mendel
Law of Dominance says that a gene has two contrasting alleles and
one always expresses itself in the organism.
It Is called the dominant gene and it expresses in any possible
combination.
Law of Segregation says that traits get segregated completely during
the formation of gametes without any mixing of alleles.
Law of Independent Assortment says that the traits can segregate
independently of different characters during gamete formation.
Sex determination
• The process of determining the sex of an individual, based on
the composition of the genetic material is called sex
determination.
• In humans ,there are 23 pairs of chromosomes,22 are
Autosomes and 1 pair of sex chromosomes.
• In humans, sex determination happens on the basis of the
presence or absence of Y chromosome.
• XX is female and XY is male
• An ovum always contains X chromosome.
• An ovum, upon fusion with Y containing sperm, gives rise to a
male child and upon fusion with X containing sperm gives rise
to a girl child.
