Genetics and Non-Mendelian Inheritance Vocabulary

Flashcards covering key biological and genetic terms related to non-Mendelian inheritance, organelle genomes, and genetic traits.

Product rule

A probability rule stating that the joint probability of two independent events occurring together is equal to the product of their individual probabilities.

Sum rule

A probability rule stating that the probability of any one of two or more mutually exclusive events occurring is equal to the sum of their individual probabilities.

Homologous recombination

A genetic process where nucleotide sequences are exchanged between two similar or identical molecules of DNA, typically during meiosis.

Crossing over

The exchange of genetic material between non-sister chromatids of homologous chromosomes occurring during prophase I of meiosis.

Quantitative Trait(s)

Phenotypic features that display continuous variation across a spectrum and are typically measured numerically.

Quantitative Trait Loci

Specific chromosomal regions or genetic positions that contain genes influencing a quantitative trait.

Complex Trait(s)

Traits whose inheritance pattern does not adhere to simple Mendelian rules and are determined by multiple genes and environmental interactions.

Non-mendelian Inheritance patterns

Patterns of inheritance that deviate from classical Mendelian ratios, including codominance, organellar inheritance, and polygenic inheritance.

Epistasis

A form of gene interaction in which the allele at one locus alters or suppresses the phenotypic expression of an allele at a different locus.

Multiple allelism

The presence of three or more alternative alleles for a given gene locus within a population.

Codominance

An inheritance pattern where both alleles in a heterozygous organism are fully and simultaneously expressed in the phenotype.

Uniparental inheritance

A non-Mendelian inheritance pattern in which all extranuclear genomic material is inherited exclusively from a single parent.

Maternal inheritance

A form of uniparental inheritance in which offspring receive genomic material exclusively through the egg cell of the mother.

Mitochondria

Cytoplasmic organelles responsible for cellular respiration and metabolic energy production that possess their own genome.

Chloroplast

Photosynthetic organelles present in plants and algae that convert solar energy into chemical energy and contain their own distinct genome.

mtDNA

Mitochondrial DNA, the circular extranuclear genome located inside mitochondria.

cpDNA

Chloroplast DNA, the circular genome located inside chloroplasts that encodes essential organelle components.

cytoplasmic segregation

The random distribution of organellar genomes into daughter cells during mitotic or meiotic division.