Science Notes Term 3

Glossary of Key Terms

Word Definition

ell division Cell division is the process by which a parent cell divides, when
a mother cell divides into two or more daughter cells. Cell
division usually occurs as part of a larger cell cycle.

Mitosis Mitosis is when a cell replicates its chromosomes and then

segregates them, producing two identical nuclei in preparation
for cell division.

Parent cell A cell that is the source of other cells, as a cell that divides to
produce two or more daughter cells, or a stem cell that is a
progenitor of other cells or is the first in a line of developing
cells

Daughter cells A cell formed by the division or budding of another.

Cell cycle A cell cycle is a series of events that takes place in a cell as it
grows and divides

HEREDITY

Chromosomes A tightly coiled strand of DNA

DNA Found in the nucleus of a cell; the carrier of genetic information

Double helix The structure of DNA molecule; a double stranded spiral

Gene A segment of DNA, the basic functional unit of heredity

Genome An organisms entire set of DNA

Genotype The genetic code of a gene or an organism’s entire genome

Heredity The passing of traits from parents to their offspring

Nucleotide The building block for DNA (Adenine, Thymine, Gaunine or

Cytosine)
Phenotype How the gene is physically expressed

Chromosomes
Allosome A sex chromosome (1 in humans)

Autosome A non-sex chromosomes (22 pairs in humans)

Diploid The number of chromosomes found in most cells

Haploid The number of chromosomes found in the sex cells (sperm and
ova)
Karyotype A picture of an individual’s full set of chromosomes

DNA Replication

Mutations Errors in DNA caused by the substitution, addition or removal of

one or more bases
Nitrogenous Containing Nitrogen
Meiosis
Meiosis is a special type of cell division that produces sex cells. It involves two cycles of cell
division, resulting in four daughter cells. Meiosis is more complicated than mitosis because
the daughter cells are genetically different from the parent cell.

Sex cells only need 23 chromosomes because two sex cells join together during fertilization.
The new organism gets 23 chromosomes from the mother's egg cell and another 23 from the
father's sperm cell. This produces a full set of 46 chromosomes.

- The daughter cells produced by meiosis are genetically identical to the parent cell
and to each other.
- The sex cells produced by meiosis have half the number of chromosomes of the
parent cell.

Sexual reproduction and DNA

Sexual reproduction is the process used by many animals, plants and other organisms to
produce offspring. It involves special sex cells, also known as gametes. In animals, female
sex cells are called eggs and male sex cells are called sperm.

Every one of us began as just one cell, created when an egg cell and a sperm cell fused
together. This process is called fertilization. A fertilized egg cell contains DNA from both the
mother and father. This provides the genetic instructions for building a particular human
being.

- sex cells are also called gametes

- Male sex cells are called sperm
- DNA from the mother and father is joined together by fertilization
- Two chromosomes are described as homologous if they contain versions of the same
genes
Mitosis

Two types of cell division take place in the human body:

Cell division for growth and repair is called mitosis.

Cell division for the production of sex cells is called meiosis. Sex cells – that is, eggs and
sperm – are needed for sexual reproduction.
Here's an easy way to remember which is which: "my-toe-sis" is what allows your toes to
grow and repair. In the rest of this lesson, we'll focus on mitosis.

Mitosis occurs during the division of all cells in the body except in the production of sex cells.
Without mitosis your bones and hair would not grow and you would quickly lose cells due to
damage. For example, skin cells are replaced every 10 to 30 days.

For these reasons, mitosis must occur repeatedly in living things.

In mitosis, one cell splits in half to create two new cells. The cell that divides is called the
parent cell. The two new cells are called daughter cells.

Each daughter cell has its own nucleus, which contains the DNA it needs to grow and
function. The daughter cells are genetically identical to each other. They are also identical to
the parent cell that made them.

Difference between Mitosis and Meiosis

Mitosis is a process where a single cell divides into two identical daughter cells (cell
division). Whereas, Meiosis is a process where a single cell divides twice to produce
four cells containing half the original amount of genetic information.
DNA Structure

DNA's structure is similar to a twisted ladder. On the outside of the DNA there is a chain
and/or backbone and in the inside are the base pairs, either C & G or T & A
DNA Replication
DNA is replicated whenever a new cell is formed. In this process, one strand of old DNA acts
as a template from which a new strand of is produced. The new DNA molecule is made of
one old strand and one new strand.

1. Starts off with DNA

2. DNA unzips
3. New nucleotides move in to copy the DNA strand
4. Two identical strands are formed
Mutations & Karyotype
Mutation

- A point mutation is a change to a single base

- A substitution point mutation always results in a different amino acid being coded for.
- Insertion is a type of point mutation in which a base is added to a sequence
- Deletion and insertion can cause a frameshift
If a point mutation causes a frameshift, the resulting protein will probably not function
properly. This is because all the amino acids after the changed base are likely to be different
- A substitution is most likely to go unnoticed in the third position. This is because for
many codons the first two positions determine the amino acid, and the 3rd position
can have any of the 4 bases.

Karyotypes

Karyotypes are picture of an individual’s chromosomes. In order to get this picture, cells
containing condensed chromosomes are stained and examined under a microscope. An
image of the chromosomes is taken and each chromosome is cut out, placed next to its pair
and numbered.
The largest chromosome is chromosome 1. By observing the appearance and number of
chromosomes, scientists can check for chromosomal abnormalities.

- In some cases, the number of chromosomes is different from the usual number. This
is called aneuploidy. If a person has an additional chromosome number 21, then they
have a genetic disorder called Down syndrome.
DNA
- DNA is a molecule
- DNA is stored in the nucleus of a plant or animal
- DNA provides instructions for how amino acids join together to form proteins

DNA Determines:
- How the organism develops
- Whether or not an organism will grow legs, wings or branches

Example Calculation:
If 30% of the bases in a particular DNA molecule are guanine (G), calculate the percentage
of the bases would be thymine (T). Explain your reasoning.

30% * 2 = 60%

therefore

there would be 40% A,T

and 20% T
Chromosomes
Chromosome store DNA in neat packages during important stages of a cell’s life cycle. The
number of chromosomes differs across species - humans have 46 chromosomes. Problems
wth chromosomes can occur, and some people have extra chromosomes or are missing
chromosomes. For example, Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder in which people have an
extra chromosome
DNA often exist in cells a disorganised long pieces. At various stages the DNA in
chromosome becomes tightly coiled and packed
- Each chromosome is made up of two identical chromatides.
- The two chromatids are joined so that they short and long
arms
- Each chromatid contains one long DNA molecule that has
been tightly coiledand packed into the small structure
- In order to ensure the DNA is effectively coiled and packed it
is wrapped around little proteins balls called histones
- Typically, humans have 46 chromosomes in each cell. These
are often described as 23 pairs because they can pair up
according to the location of genes, size and shape
- Of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans, 22 look very
similar to each other - these are non-sex chromsomes known
as AUTOSOMES
- The 23rd pair of chromosome is the sex chromsome, also
known as the ALLOSOMES → these determine the sex of an individual

Diploid
- A full set of chromosomes (in humans 46)

Haploid
- Sperm and ova have half this number (23), which is called the haploid number

-
Genes
Genetic information is passed down from one generation to the next in packets or units.
These are known as genes. A gene is a section of a DNA molecule that provides instructions
for building a specific protein. Humans have about 20,000 genes.

A gene is:
- A packet of genetic information that can be passed down from one generation to the
next
- A section of DNA that provides instructions for building a specific protein

A single strand of DNA contains thousands of genes and vary in different lengths
The Genetic Code
Codons

The sequence of bases in each gene provides instructions for building a specific protein.
When the machinery in a cell reads the bases that make up a gene it interprets them in
groups of three. Each group of three bases is called a codon. Codons "code" for amino
acids – the building blocks of proteins.

So, to summarize:

- genes are made up of sequences of bases

- bases are grouped in threes, forming codons
- codons code for amino acids
- amino acids make up proteins

The Genetic Code

ATG codes for methionine – this amino acid is found at the start of every gene
GTA codes for valine
TGA, TAA and TAG do not code for amino acids. They each stop protein creation.
Inheritance Patterns and Knowledge Gained from
Medel’s Experiment
Key Terms:
Simple inheritance - when the appeance of an inherited trait is controlled by a singly gene
Allele - a version of a gene
Phenotype - The set of observable traits in an organism
Genotype - The set of genes carried by an organism that influence the appearance of its
traits
Homezygous - a genotype in which the alles are the same, such as YY or yy
Heterozygous - a genotype in which the alleles are difference such as Yy
Dominant allele - a versiion of a gene that is expressed even when only one copy is present
represented by an uppercase letter
Recessive allele - a versiion of a gene that is expressed even when only two copies is
present represented by an lowercase letter

Summary

● When the alleles for a a gene are the same the genotype is called homozygous
● When the allese for a gene are different the genotype is called heterozygous
● If present, the dominant allele will always be expressed as a phenotype
● The recessive trait will only be expressed as a phenotype when both alleles are
recessive
● The inheritance of a recessive trait occurs only when each parent contributes one
allele for the trait
● Pea plants that are heterozygous for the seed colour gene: have yellow seeds but
carry the recessive allele for green seeds and have two different alleles for seed
colour

Mendel’s Conclusions
- In each individual, there are two factors (or genes) that control a given trait or
characteristic.
- The two factors may be the same (in pure-breeding individuals) or the two factors
could be different (in hybrid individuals).
 - The trait that appears in the hybrid individuals is dominant, whereas the one that is
hidden or masked is recessive.

Recessive vs Dominant
All of the plants in the middle generation must have had the allele for yellow seeds because
they all "expressed" this trait in their appearance. Mendel called this the dominant trait. But
the same plants must have also been carrying the allele for green seeds so that they could
pass it on to some members of the next generation. Having green seeds is a recessive trait
because it recedes – or goes into hiding – when the dominant allele for yellow seeds is
present. It only comes out on display when a plant gets two alleles for green seeds, one from
each parent.
Punnett Squares
A Punnett square helps you determine the probabilities of different outcomes of a genetic
cross using the genotypes of the parents

Phenotype and genotype

A particular organism's phenotype – its set of observable traits – is partly determined by its
genotype – its set of genes.

The following diagram illustrates this for several of the single gene traits possessed by one
particular pea plant. Many of its traits are also influenced by other factors such as the
amount of light and water it receives.

The genotype for each gene is the combination of alleles it inherits from its parents. In this
example, the plant has the genotype YY for seed colour because each of its parents gave it
a dominant Y allele for yellow seeds. But it might have had one of the other possible
genotypes shown: Yy or yy.

The dominant allele is always symbolized by a capital letter and the recessive allele is
symbolized by the lower case form of the same letter. For example:

● In the genotype Ff, F is the dominant allele for purple flowers and f is the
recessive allele for white flowers.
● In the genotype rr, r is the recessive allele for wrinkled seeds. This plant lacks
the dominant allele for round seeds, R.
Describing Probablilities

Homozygous vs Heterozygous

Another distinction raised in the video is between genotypes:

● A genotype in which the alleles are the same is called homozygous. For example,
both YY and yy are homozygous genotypes although they result in different traits. An
organism with a homozygous genotype is called a homozygote.
● A genotype in which the alleles are different is called heterozygous. So Yy is
heterozygous and plants with this genotype are carriers of the recessive allele for
green seeds but express the dominant allele for yellow seeds.
Pedigrees
A trait is a recessive if two individuals who do not have the trait produce offspring that have
the trait
A trait is dominant if two individuals who have the trait produce that will appear in the
offspring if one of the parents contributes it.
Dominant trait: DD, Dd
Recessive: dd

Pedigrees can be used to:

- determine whether a particular trait is dominant or recessive:
- a trait is recessive if two individuals who do not have the trait produce offspring that
do have the trait.
- a trait is dominant is two individual who do have the trait produce offspring that do not
have the trait.
- deduce genotypes
- predict the likelihood of a family member inheriting a trait or developing a disorder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-_fwABa2BU&ab_channel=2MinuteClassroom