HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION NOTES

The transmission of characters or traits from one generation to other (from parents to off springs) is known as
inheritance or heredity. This inheritance of characters may take place during sexual or asexual reproduction.
These reproductive processes give rise to new individuals which may differ in certain character or traits.
VARIATIONS: The differences in the characters (traits) among the individuals of a species are called variations.
Variations may also be produced during asexual mode of reproduction (due to the small inaccuracies in
copying of DNA), but sexual reproduction produces a large number of variations, e.g. in plants, less variations
are seen in comparison to animals, which produces mainly by sexual reproduction. Variations are beneficial
and necessary for organic evolution. These variations may be environmental or genetic.

ENVIRONMENTAL VARIATIONS:
These are caused by our environment, which includes diet, chemicals, radiations and environmental pollution.

GENETIC VARIATIONS:
Majority of the variations are caused by genetic differences in a population, which may arise due to mutation,
meiosis and sexual reproduction.

ACCUMULATION OF VARIATIONS DURING REPRODUCTION:

Inheritance from the previous generation provides both a common body design and subtle changes in it, for
the next generation. Now, when the new generation reproduces, the second generation produced will have
variations that they inherit from the first generation, as well as newly created differences.
For example, if one bacterium divides and give rise to two individuals, each of them will divide again and give
rise to two other individuals in the next generation. The four individual bacteria generated would be very
similar with minor differences that occurred due to small inaccuracies in copying of DNA. However, in sexual
reproduction, greater diversity will be generated. Depending upon the nature of variations, different
individuals would have different advantages, like bacteria, which can withstand heat, will survive better in a
heat wave.

SIGNIFICANCE OF VARIATIONS:
• They form the basis of heredity.
• Adaptability to adverse conditions is brought about by variations.
• New varieties of an organism may arise due to the genetic variations laying the foundation for
evolution.

Mutation is a sudden inheritable change in the gene or chromosomes, which usually produces a detectable
effect in organism concerned and is transmitted to the off springs.

INHERITANCE OF TRAITS: Traits or characteristics, which are passed on from parents to their offspring
generation to generation are controlled by ‘genes’. Due to the differences in genetic makeup human
populations show a great deal of variations in expression of various traits, e.g. height, skin colour, eye colour,
shape of nose, lips and ears, blood groups, etc.
Like attached and free earlobes are two variants found in human populations. The lowest part of the ear is
called the earlobe.
In free earlobes, the earlobe is not attached to the side of the head and in attached earlobe, the earlobe is
closely attached to the side of the head. This trait is hereditary.

MENDEL’S CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE INHERITANCE OF TRAITS

The rules for inheritance of traits in human beings are related to the fact that both father and mother
contribute equal amount of genetic material to the child. This means that each trait can be influenced by both
paternal and maternal DNA. Thus, for each trait there will be two versions in the child.
Mendel worked out the main rules of such inheritances. The heredity in most of the living organisms is found
to be regulated by certain definite principles. Mendel opted for garden pea (Pisum sativum) to conduct his
experiments. His experiments with garden pea along with the inferences drawn together constitute, the
foundation of modern genetics.
Mendel selected garden pea for his experiments because:
• These grow quickly and are easier to study.
• Pea plants can be crossed or self-pollinated and have a flower structure that limits accidental contact.
• Garden pea has a number of easily detectable contrasting characters.
Mendel’s contributions were unique because of the use of distinct variables and application of mathematics to
the problem. He kept the record of each generation separately and studied the inheritance of only one pair of
characters at a time.
Term Definition Term Definition
Gene A functional unit of heredity Allele One of the different forms
present on chromosomes of of a particular gene, e.g.
cell nucleus. It is composed of hair colour
DNA and codes for one
protein. It determines a
particular character
(Phenotype)
Dominant allele An allele, whose phenotype Recessive allele An allele, which gets
will be expressed even in the masked in the presence of
presence of another allele of dominant allele and can
that gene. It is represented by only affect the phenotype
a capital letter, e.g. ‘T’. in the absence of a
dominant gene. It is
represented by a small
letter, e.g. ‘t’.
Genotype Genetic composition of an Phenotype The expression of the
individual genotype, which is an
observable or measurable
characteristic.
Punnett square Probability diagram, Chromosome A long-rod-like structure in
illustrating the possible off a nucleus. It appears during
springs of mating. cell division and is thought
to carry genes.
 Hybrid An individual having two Monohybrid cross A hybridization cross in
different alleles for the same which inheritance of only
trait. one pair of contrasting
characters is studied.
Dihybrid cross A cross in which inheritance of Homozygous A condition in which an
two pairs of contrasting individual possesses a pair
characters is simultaneously of identical genes
studied. controlling a given
character and will breed
true for this character (e.g.
occurrence of two identical
alleles for tallness in a P1
tall pea plant)
Heterozygous A condition in which an Progeny A descendant or offspring
individual has a pair of as a daughter organism
contrasting genes for any one
character and will not breed
true for this character (e.g.
existence of dominant and
recessive alleles in F1 hybrid
tall pea plant)
Gametes Reproductive cells containing
only one set (haploid) of
dissimilar chromosome.
More than a century ago, Mendel worked out the main rules for inheritance. He performed following two
experiments:

1. INHERITANCE OF TRAITS FOR ONE CONTRASTING CHARACTER:

• Mendel took pea plants with different characteristics such as height (tall and short plants).
• The progeny produced from them (F1 –generation plants) were all tall. Mendel then allowed F1
progeny plants to undergo self-pollination.
• In the F2- generation, he found that all plants were not tall, three quarter were tall and one
quarter of them short. This observation indicated that both the traits of shortness and tallness
were inherited in F1-generation. This is known as ‘the law of dominance’.
• Two copies of the traits are inherited in each sexually reproducing organism.
• TT and Tt are phenotypically tall plants, whereas tt is a short plant. For a plant to be tall, the
single copy of ‘T’ is enough. Therefore, in traits Tt, ‘T’ is a dominant trait while‘t’ is a recessive
trait. In F2- generation, both the characters are recovered, though one of these is not seen in F 1
stage. During gamete formation, the factor or allele of a pair segregate from each other. This is
known as the ‘the law of segregation’.

2. INHERITANCE OF TRAITS FOR TWO VISIBLE CONTRASTING CHARACTERS:

 • Mendel took pea plants with two contrasting characters, i.e. one with a green round seed and
took the other one with a yellow wrinkled seed.
• When the F1 progeny was obtained they had round and yellow seeds, thus establishing that
round and yellow are dominant traits.
• Mendel then allowed the F1 progeny to be self-crossed (self-pollination) to obtain F2 progeny.
He found that sees were round yellow, round green, wrinkled yellow and some were wrinkled
green.
• The ratio of plants with above characteristics was 9:3:3:1, respectively (Mendel observed that
two new combinations had appeared in F2).
• In F2 –generation, all the four characters were assorted out independent of the others.
Therefore, he said that a pair of alternating or contrasting characters behaves independently of
the other pair, i.e. seed colour is independent of seed coat. This is known as ‘the law of
independent assortment’.

SUMMARY OF MENDEL’S LAWS OF INHERITANCE

Law Statement Parent Offspring
cross
Dominance When parent plants are pure for contrasting traits, only TT X tt Tt (All tall)
one form of the trait will appear in the next generation
that is known as dominant trait (T). The hidden trait (t)
is recessive.
Segregation In F1 hybrid, the dominant and recessive traits remain Tt X Tt 3: 1
together for long time but do not mix with each other
and separate or segregate at the time of gamete
formation.
Independent The inheritance of one character is always independent RRyy X 9:3:3:1
Assortment of the inheritance of other character within the same rrYY
individual.
BASIS OF EXPRESSION OF TRAITS
Cellular DNA is the source of information for making proteins in the cell. A section of DNA that provides
information for one particular protein is called a ‘gene’ (unit of heredity that controls the characteristics of
living organism).
For example, as we know that plants have hormones that can trigger growth so, the amount of plant hormone
formed will determine the plant’s height. The amount of plant hormone made, will depend on the efficiency of
the process for making it. Consider an enzyme important for this process. If this enzyme works efficiently, a lot
of hormones will be made (i.e. tall plant). If the gene for enzyme has an alteration, the enzyme will be less
efficient hence, amount of hormone produced will be less (i.e. small plant). This proves that the traits
(characters) are controlled by genes only. Just like plants, the traits in animals and human beings are also
transmitted through genes from the parents by the process of sexual reproduction.

MECHANISM OF INHERITANCE
• If both parents help to determine the trait in the progeny, both parents must be contributing a copy of
the same gene.
 • Thus, each pea plant must have two sets of all genes, one inherited from each parent. So, each germ
cell must have only one gene set.
• Each set of gene is present not as a single thread of DNA, but as separate independent pieces called
‘chromosome’ and each cell will have two copies of each chromosome, one inherited from each parent,
i.e.one from male parent and one from female parent.
• When two germ cells combine, they will restore the normal number of chromosomes in the progeny,
ensuring the stability of the DNA of species. Such mechanism of inheritance explains the result of
Mendel’s experiments and is used by all sexually and asexually reproducing organisms.

SEX DETERMINATION
A Person can have either a male sex or female sex. The process by which sex of a newborn individual is
determined is called ‘sex determination’. There are different strategies by which sex is determined in different
species. In some species, environmental factors are important in determining the sex of the developing
individual. Example, in reptiles the temperature at which the fertilized eggs are kept, determines the sex of the
offspring. In turtles, at high temperature more females are formed, while in lizards, it gives rise to more males.
In other animals, such as snails, individuals can change sex in different conditions, indicating that sex is not
genetically determined.
The determination of sex occurs largely by genetic control in human being. The genes inherited from the
parents determine the sex of the individual.
In human beings, there are 23 pairs of chromosomes, out of which 22 pairs are ‘autosomes’ and one pair is
‘sex chromosome’. These sex chromosomes vary in males and females. A male has one ‘x’ and one ‘y’
chromosome, i.e. half male gametes or sperms will have short ‘y’ chromosome and other will have ‘x’
chromosome. A female has two chromosomes, i.e. all the female gametes (ova) will have only ‘x’ chromosome.
All children obtain either chromosome from both parents. Females have a perfect pair of sex chromosome
(homogametic) and thus, contribute ‘x’ chromosome to both the sexes of progeny but males have a
mismatched pair (heterogametic) in which one is ‘x’ (normal sized) and the other is ‘y’ chromosome (short in
size).
Hence, an egg fertilized by ‘x’ carrying sperm results in a zygote with ‘xx’, which becomes a female and if an
egg is fertilized by ‘y’ carrying sperm, it results in a ‘xy’ zygote that becomes male. Thus, the sex of the children
will be determined by what they inherit from their father. A child who inherits an ‘x’ chromosome will be a girl
and one who inherits a ‘y’ chromosome will be a boy.