Wednesday, February 20, 2008



True Breeding- organisms that produce offspring identical to themselves if allowed to self pollinate.








Trait- specific characteristic that varies from one individual to another.









Hybrid- offspring of crosses between parents with different traits.






Genetics- scientific study of heredity.







Gene- sequence of DNA that codes for a protein and thus determines a trait.







Allele- one of a number of different kinds of a gene.









Segregation- separation of alleles during gamete formation.








Gamete- specialized cell involved in sexual reproduction.







Probability- likelihood that a particular event will occur.








Punnett square- diagram showing the gene combinations that might result from a genetic cross.








Homozygous- organism that has two identical alleles for a particular trait.








Heterozygous- organism that has two different alleles for the same trait.









Phenotype- physical characteristics of an organism.







Genotype- genetic makeup of an organism.







Homologous- chromosomes that each have a corresponding chromosome from the opposite sex parent.






Diploid- cell that contains both sets of homologous chromosomes.







Haploid- cell that contains only a single set of chromosomes.










Meiosis- process where the number of chromosomes per cell is cut in half through the separation of homologous chromosomes in a diploid cell.





Tetrad- structure containing 4 chromatids that forms during meiosis.






Crossing-over- homologous chromosomes exchange portions of their chromatids during meiosis.




Gene Map- diagram showing the relative locations of each known gene on a chromosome