Mendelian Genetics

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts related to Mendelian genetics, including definitions of important terms and laws that govern inheritance.

Phenotype

Outward, physical manifestation of an organism.

Genotype

Internally coded, genetic information of an organism.

Gamete

Haploid male or female sex cell

Law of Segregation

The two alleles of every gene segregate during meiosis.

Law of Independent Assortment

Allele pairs of different genes segregate independently during gamete formation.

Punnett Square

A diagram used to predict the outcome of a genetic cross.

Dihybrid Cross

A cross between two organisms that differ in two traits.

Incomplete Dominance

A type of inheritance in which the heterozygote has a phenotype that is an intermediate of both alleles.

Codominance

A type of inheritance in which both alleles are expressed equally in the heterozygote.

Epistasis

An interaction between two genes in which one gene masks or modifies the effect of another.

Sex-linked Traits

Traits that are associated with genes located on the sex chromosomes.

Alleles

Different versions of the same gene.

Dominant Allele

An allele that expresses its phenotype even in the presence of a recessive allele.

Recessive Allele

An allele that only expresses its phenotype when two copies are present.

Probability

A measure of the likelihood that an event will occur.

True-Breeding

Organisms that, when mated, produce offspring identical to themselves.

Homozygous

An organism with two identical alleles for a particular trait.

Heterozygous

An organism with two different alleles for a particular trait.

Testcross

a genetic experiment that involves crossing an organism with a dominant phenotype and unknown genotype with an organism that has a homozygous recessive genotype