The nucleus is a membrane bound structure that contains the cell's hereditary

information and controls the cell's growth and reproduction. It is commonly the most
prominent organelle in the cell. The nucleus is surrounded by a structure called the
nuclear envelope.

The nucleus is the very dense region consisting of protons and neutrons at the
center of an atom.

Chromosomes are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of animal and plant cells.
Each chromosome is made of protein and a single molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
Passed from parents to offspring, DNA contains the specific instructions that make each type of
living creature unique.
The term chromosome comes from the Greek words for color (chroma) and body (soma).
Scientists gave this name to chromosomes because they are cell structures, or bodies, that are
strongly stained by some colorful dyes used in research.
Homozygous is a word that refers to a particular gene that has identical alleles on both
homologous chromosomes. It is referred to by two capital letters (XX) for a dominant trait,
and two lowercase letters (xx) for a recessive trait.

An allele can be dominant or recessive. Individuals, meanwhile, can be homozygous

or heterozygous: individuals who are homozygous for a certain gene carry two copies of the
same allele. individuals who are heterozygous for a certain gene carry two different alleles.

Allele
An allele is a viable DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) coding that occupies a
given locus (position) on a chromosome.
Usually alleles are sequences that code for a gene, but sometimes the term is used to refer to a
non-gene sequence.
An individual's genotype for that gene is the set of alleles it happens to possess.
In a diploid organism, one that has two copies of each chromosome, two alleles make up the
individual's genotype.
An example is the gene for blossom color in many species of flower a single gene controls the
color of the petals, but there may be several different versions (or alleles) of the gene.
One version might result in red petals, while another might result in white petals.
The resulting color of an individual flower will depend on which two alleles it possesses for the
gene and how the two interact.
An allele is an alternative form of a gene (in diploids, one member of a pair) that is located at a
specific position on a specific chromosome.
Diploid organisms, for example, humans, have paired homologous chromosomes in their somatic
cells, and these contain two copies of each gene.
An organism in which the two copies of the gene are identical that is, have the same allele
is called homozygous for that gene.
An organism which has two different alleles of the gene is called heterozygous.
Phenotypes (the expressed characteristics) associated with a certain allele can sometimes be
dominant or recessive, but often they are neither.
A dominant phenotype will be expressed when at least one allele of its associated type is
present, whereas a recessive phenotype will only be expressed when both alleles are of its
associated type.
However, there are exceptions to the way heterozygotes express themselves in the phenotype.
One exception is incomplete dominance (sometimes called blending inheritance) when alleles
blend their traits in the phenotype.
An example of this would be seen if, when crossing Antirrhinums flowers with incompletely
dominant "red" and "white" alleles for petal color the resulting offspring had pink petals.
Another exception is co-dominance, where both alleles are active and both traits are expressed
at the same time; for example, both red and white petals in the same bloom or red and white
flowers on the same plant.
Codominance is also apparent in human blood types.
A person with one "A" blood type allele and one "B" blood type allele would have a blood type of
"AB".
A wild type allele is an allele which is considered to be "normal" for the organism in question, as
opposed to a mutant allele which is usually a relatively new modification. (Note that with the
advent of neutral genetic markers, the term 'allele' is now often used to refer to DNA sequence
variants in non-functional, or junk DNA.
For example, allele frequency tables are often presented for genetic markers, such as the DYS
markers.) Also there are many different types of alleles.

In complete dominance, the effect of one allele in a heterozygous genotype

completely masks the effect of the other. The allele that masks the other is said to
bedominant to the latter, and the allele that is masked is said to be recessive to the

former.
Incomplete dominance is a form of intermediate inheritance in which one allele for a
specific trait is not completely expressed over its paired allele. This results in a third
phenotype in which the expressed physical trait is a combination of the phenotypes of both
alleles.

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Codominance is a form of dominance wherein the alleles of a gene pair in a
heterozygote are fully expressed. This results in offspring with a phenotype that is
neither dominant nor recessive. A typical example showing codominance is the

ABO blood group system.

Heredity is the passing on of characteristics from one
generation to the next. It is the reason why offspring look
like their parents. It also explains why cats always give
birth to kittens and never puppies. The process of heredity
occurs among all living things including animals, plants,
bacteria, protists and fungi. The study of heredity is
called genetics and scientists that study heredity are
called geneticists.

Through heredity, living things inherit traits from their

parents. Traits are physical characteristics. You resemble
your parents because you inherited your hair and skin
color, nose shape, height, and other traits from them.
Cells are the basic unit of structure and function of all
living things. Tiny biochemical structures inside each cell
called genes carry traits from one generation to the next.
Genes are made of a chemical
called DNA(deoxyribonucleic acid). Genes are strung
together to form long chains of DNA in structures known
as chromosomes. Genes are like blueprints for building a
house, except that they carry the plans for building cells,
tissues, organs, and bodies. They have the instructions for
making the thousands of chemical building blocks in the
body. These building blocks are called proteins. Proteins
are made of smaller units called amino acids. Differences
in genes cause the building of different amino acids and
proteins. These differences cause individuals to have
different traits such as hair color or blood types.
A gene gives only the potential for the development of a
trait. How this potential is achieved depends partly on the
interaction of the gene with other genes. But it also
depends partly on the environment. For example, a person
may have a genetic tendency toward being overweight.
But the person's actual weight will depend on such
environmental factors as how what kinds of food the
person eats and how much exercise that person does.
Return to beginning
Check your comprehension of the vocabulary terms
answering the following questions:
1. The basic unit of structure and function in living things
is called
a. genes b. chromosomes c. cells d. proteins
2. The passing of characteristics from parent to offspring
is called
a. genetics b. heredity c. chromosome d. proteins
3. Genes are coded information telling the cell how to
build these chemicals
a. chromosomes b. DNA c. RNA d. proteins
4. Visible characteristics are called
a. chromosomes b. DNA c. traits d. proteins

5. Genes are made of a chemical called

a. chromosomes b. DNA c. RNA d. proteins
6. Genes are located on larger structures called
a. chromosomes b. DNA c. RNA d. protein
7. Biochemical structures inside cells that carry traits
from one generation to the next
a. RNA b. chromosomes c. genes d. proteins
Next Tutorial: Mendel's Experiments
 Glossary

Chromosome: a grouping of coiled strands of DNA, containing many genes.

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid): a molecule found in cells of organisms that

encodes genetic information.

Gene: a biological unit that codes for distinct traits or characteristics.

Genome: the complete set of genes in a cell.

Genotype: the genetic constitution of an organism.

Metabolome: complete set of low molecular weight compounds in a cell at

a given time.

Phenotype: the physical appearance/observable characteristics of an

organism.

Proteome: complete set of proteins in a cell at a given time.

RNA (ribonucleic acid): a molecule, derived from DNA by transcription, that

either carries information (messenger RNA), provides sub-cellular structure
(ribosomal RNA), transports amino acids (transfer RNA), or facilitates the
biochemical modification of itself or other RNA molecules.