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D3.2Theme D — Continuity and change

Inheritance — IB Biology SL Revision Notes & Topical Questions

10 min read 13 parts Lesson 8 of 14 2 quizzes

📚 IB Biology SL Hub / Topical Revision
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Curriculum Equation Key قوانين الرقم الهيدروجيني والاتزان الأيوني - pH & Acid-Base Equilibrium FormulasFast Exam Solution
pH = -log[H⁺] | pOH = -log[OH⁻] | pH + pOH = 14 | [H⁺][OH⁻] = 10⁻¹⁴
Word Equation & Conditions: الرقم الهيدروجيني = -لوغاريتم تركيز أيون الهيدروجين | pH + pOH = 14
Location & Specifications: الاتزان الأيوني، كيمياء 3 ثانوي، التحصيلي، و AP Chemistry.
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Lesson summary

D3.2 Inheritance — IB BIOLOGY SL notes: Carry out and interpret genetic crosses, and explain dominance, multiple alleles, sex linkage, pedigrees and continuous variation.Gametes — haploid cells made by meiosis, each with one chromosome of each pair and so one allele of each geneT…

  • Fertilisation
  • Units of inheritance
  • Flower types
  • Monohybrid cross
  • Punnett grid
  • Probability

Section 1 of 13Gametes, fertilisation and genotype terms

Gametes, fertilisation and genotype terms
Gametes
  • Gametes haploid cells made by meiosis, each with one chromosome of each pair and so one allele of each gene
  • The egg is large and stores food for the early embryo.
  • The sperm is small with many mitochondria that supply ATP for swimming.
  • Human gametes have 23 single chromosomes and body cells have 23 pairs (46).
Fertilisation
  • Fertilisation the fusion of gamete nuclei gives a diploid zygote with two alleles of each gene
  • One allele comes from each parent, so offspring are varied.
Gene
Gene a short length of DNA on a chromosome that codes for a characteristic
Allele
Allele a variant of the same gene, found at the same locus
  • Gene and allele must not be used interchangeably.
Genotype
Genotype the combination of alleles an individual inherits
  • Homozygoustwo identical alleles, either homozygous dominant or homozygous recessive.
  • Heterozygoustwo different alleles.
Phenotype
Phenotype the observable characteristics of an organism

Section 2 of 13Mendel and plant breeding

1
Mendel
  • Mendel the Austrian monk who crossed pea plants in the mid-19th century
  • He transferred pollen by hand from one plant to another, so the parentage of every seed was certain.
  • He studied plant height, flower colour and seed coat texture, among others.
  • He used large numbers and repeated crosses, so his ratios were reliable.
2
Results
  • The P generation was pure-breeding (homozygous) for different phenotypes.
  • Every plant in F1 resembled one parent only.
  • F2 plants showed both parental forms in a ratio of about 3:1.
3
Units of inheritance
  • Mendel's term for what we now call genes, some dominant and some recessive
4
Flower types
  • Flower types both sexes in one flower, separate male and female flowers on one plant, or separate male and female plants
  • A plant with both sexes can self-pollinate, which keeps useful traits in a line.
  • Growers can cross-pollinate chosen plants artificially to combine desirable traits.

Section 3 of 13Monohybrid crosses

Monohybrid cross
Monohybrid cross a cross involving one gene with two alleles, starting from pure-breeding parents
Punnett grid
Punnett grid a table that predicts the probability of offspring genotypes and phenotypes
1
Choose allele symbols and write the parental phenotypes and genotypes.
2
List every type of haploid gamete each parent can produce.
3
Put one parent's gametes along each axis of a 2 × 2 grid.
4
Fill each box by combining the gametes to give the offspring genotypes.
5
Convert the genotypes into phenotypes.
6
State the genotype and phenotype ratios.
Example
  • Example green pods G are dominant to yellow g
  • GG × gg gives all Gg, all green, in F1.
  • Gg × Gg gives 1 GG : 2 Gg : 1 gg in F2, a phenotype ratio of 3 green : 1 yellow.
Probability
  • Probability predicted ratios are probabilities, and small samples often differ from them
Letters
  • Letters choose symbols whose capital and lower-case forms look different

Section 4 of 13Dominance and phenotype

Dominance and phenotype
Dominant allele
  • Dominant allele needs to be inherited from only one parent for the trait to show
Recessive allele
  • Recessive allele must be inherited from both parents, and it is hidden in a heterozygote
FeatureComplete dominanceCodominanceIncomplete dominance
Heterozygote phenotypeSame as dominant homozygoteBoth traits visibleA blend or intermediate
Phenotypes (two alleles)TwoThreeThree
Heterozygote × heterozygote3:11:2:11:2:1
ExamplePea stem heightSpeckled chickens CWCB, AB bloodPink flowers CWCR in the four o'clock (marvel of Peru)
SymbolsT and tSuperscriptsSuperscripts
Dominance and phenotype
Factors deciding phenotype
  • Genotype only, as in ABO blood group.
  • Environment only, as in scars and accent.
  • Both together, as in height and skin colour.
Phenotypic plasticity
  • Phenotypic plasticity the genotype is fixed but its expression varies with the environment
  • UV radiation activates enzymes that raise melanin production and darken the skin.
  • In the Himalayan rabbit the fur pigment gene is inactive above 35 °C and active at 15-25 °C, so cool ears, feet and nose turn black.

Section 5 of 13Phenylketonuria

PKU
  • PKU an autosomal recessive condition
  • A mutation in the PAH gene makes phenylalanine hydroxylase non-functional.
  • Phenylalanine builds up, which can cause seizures and learning difficulties.
  • About 1 in 10 000 births in the UK are affected.
  • It is controlled by a low-phenylalanine diet.
Carriers
  • Carriers two unaffected heterozygous parents have a 25% chance per child of PKU and a 75% chance of not having it
  • Cystic fibrosis follows the same pattern.
Screening
  • Screening a heel-prick blood sample a few days after birth tests for PKU and other conditions

Section 6 of 13Multiple alleles and blood groups

Multiple alleles and blood groups
SNP
  • SNP a single base difference between alleles
  • Alleles occupy the same locus.
  • A small change can have a large effect on function.
Multiple alleles
  • Multiple alleles the ABO gene has three alleles, IA, IB and i
  • IA and IB are codominant and both are dominant over i.
  • An individual carries only two alleles.
GroupPossible genotypesAntigen on red cellsAntibodies in plasma
AIAIA or IAiAAnti-B
BIBIB or IBiBAnti-A
ABIAIBA and BNone
OiiNeitherAnti-A and anti-B
Multiple alleles and blood groups
Cross
  • Cross a heterozygous group A parent and a heterozygous group B parent can have children of all four groups
Transfusion
  • Transfusion the wrong blood group triggers antibodies, so red cells clump and clots form

Section 7 of 13Sex determination

Sex chromosomes
  • Sex chromosomes pair 23 is XX in females and XY in mammalian males
  • Pairs 1-22 are autosomes with no effect on sex.
  • The rule does not apply to all species.
Role of the father
  • Role of the father half the sperm carry X and half carry Y
  • Every egg carries an X.
  • Daughters get the father's X and sons get his Y, giving a 1:1 sex ratio.
X and Y chromosomes
  • X and Y chromosomes the X is larger with its centromere nearer the middle and carries about 16 times more genes than the Y
  • Genes for blood clotting factors are on the X and not the Y.
  • The Y carries the SRY gene, which triggers testis development and testosterone production.
  • Without SRY, ovaries develop.

Section 8 of 13Sex-linked inheritance: haemophilia

Sex linkage
  • Sex linkage a gene on the X chromosome is inherited differently in males and females
  • Males (XY) have one copy of the gene and are hemizygous.
  • Females (XX) have two copies, so they can be normal, carriers or affected.
Haemophilia
  • Haemophilia a recessive X-linked allele fails to make clotting factor VIII, so blood clots slowly
  • F is the normal allele and f the recessive allele.
GenotypeSexPhenotype
XFXFFemaleUnaffected
XFXfFemaleCarrier with normal clotting
XfXfFemaleAffected, very rare
XFYMaleUnaffected
XfYMaleAffected
1
A carrier mother makes eggs with XF or Xf.
2
An unaffected father makes sperm with XF or Y.
3
The gametes fuse at random.
4
Daughters receive the father's XF, so none is affected and half are carriers.
5
Sons receive the father's Y and one maternal X.
6
Half the sons receive Xf and are affected.
Pattern
  • Pattern affected sons inherit the allele from their mother and never from their father
Notation
  • Notation upper-case X and Y with superscripts for the alleles

Section 9 of 13Pedigree charts

Pedigree chart
  • Pedigree chart traces the inheritance of a characteristic through the generations of a family
  • Squares are males and circles are females.
  • Shaded or coloured symbols are affected individuals.
  • A horizontal line joins parents and their children hang below.
  • Roman numerals label the generations, with the eldest child on the left.
Recessive allele
  • Recessive allele two unaffected parents with an affected child shows the allele is recessive
  • Both parents are carriers.
  • The trait can skip a generation.
Dominant allele
  • Dominant allele an affected child always having an affected parent suggests a dominant allele
Sex linkage
  • Sex linkage an excess of affected males suggests an X-linked trait
Close relatives
  • Close relatives they are more likely to share harmful recessive alleles, which raises the risk of affected children
Reasoning
  • Inductive reasoning draws a general rule from specific observations.
  • Deductive reasoning draws a specific conclusion from known rules.

Section 10 of 13Continuous variation and box plots

FeatureDiscreteContinuous
CategoriesClear separate classesA range between two extremes
Genes involvedUsually one or fewMany (polygenes)
Environmental effectLittle or noneOften large
Graph typeBar chart or pie chartHistogram, box plot or normal curve
ExampleBlood group with Rhesus factorHeight, birth mass and skin colour
Polygenic trait
  • Polygenic trait many genes each add a small effect, so phenotype = genotype + environment
  • Skin colour depends on genes for melanin production and on UV exposure.
  • Birth mass shows a normal distribution and is affected by the mother's diet, twins and smoking.
Box plot
  • Box plot shows the lowest value, first quartile, median, third quartile and highest value
  • The box shows the interquartile range, the middle 50% of the data.
  • The whiskers show the lowest and highest 25%.
Outlier
  • Outlier a point more than 1.5 × the interquartile range beyond a quartile, plotted separately

Section 11 of 13More from the specification

More from the specification
Family lineage tracking via pedigree charts
  • Family lineage tracking via pedigree charts genetic counselors construct phenotypic pedigree charts to trace inheritance patterns of sex-linked or autosomal alleles.
Pedigree chart analysis
  • Standard genealogical diagrams showing phenotypic inheritance patterns across generations to deduce whether traits are autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive,
    • or sex-linked.
Genotypic determination
  • Deducing unknown parental genotypes from observed phenotypic ratios in offspring using test crosses.
Mendelian segregation
  • Alleles segregate during gamete formation so that each gamete carries only one allele for each gene.
Plant reproductive parts in genetics
  • Stamen and pistil/carpel (stigma, style, ovary) facilitate controlled pollination in hybridization experiments.
    • (anther and filament)

Section 12 of 13Key terms

TermMeaning
AlleleOne of the different forms of the same gene.
GenotypeThe combination of alleles that an individual has for a gene.
PhenotypeThe observable characteristics of an organism.
HomozygousHaving two identical alleles of a gene.
HeterozygousHaving two different alleles of a gene.
CodominanceBoth alleles are fully expressed in the heterozygote.
Sex linkageInheritance of a gene carried on a sex chromosome.
Polygenic traitA trait controlled by many genes, showing continuous variation.

Section 13 of 13Exam technique

1
Using gene and allele as the same word — a gene has different alleles
2
Saying a recessive trait always shows in the child of two carriers — only 25% of children are affected
3
Saying haemophilia passes from father to son — the affected son receives the allele from his mother
4
Saying predicted ratios are exact — they are probabilities

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