-Chapter 9
- Biology
INTRODUCTION
A recognizable feature of a human being ( or any other
organism) like height, complexion, shape of nose and
chin, colour of eye and hair etc are called characters or
traits.
The transmission of traits from the parents to their
offspring is called heredity.
The hereditary information is present in the gametes of
the parents. Thus, gametes constitute the link between
one generation and the next, and pass on the maternal
and paternal characters or traits to the offspring.
VARIATIONS
The differences in the characters (or traits) among the individuals
of a species is called variation.
The offspring is never a true copy of the parent.
Another reason for choosing pea plants was that they were
self pollinating. Also, Mendel chose pea plants because
many generations of pea plants can be produced in a
comparatively short time span and their study is much
simpler than that of animals.
LAW OF SEGREGATION
Mendel's first law of inheritance or the Law of
Segregation : The characteristics (or trait) of an
organism are determined by internal factors which
occur in pairs. Only one such factor can be present in a
single gamete.
LAW OF INDEPENDENT
ASSORTMENT
Mendels second law of inheritance or Law of Independent Assortment
states that In the inheritance of more than one pair of traits in a cross
simultaneously, the factors responsible for each pair of traits are distributed
independently to the gametes.
TRANSMISSION OF TRAIT
The characteristics or traits of parents are transmitted to their offsprings
through genes present on their chromosomes during the process of sexual
reproduction.
Genes work in pairs. For every trait there is a pair of genes ( one dominant
and one recessive). Each parent passes only one of the two genes of the
pair for each characteristic.
Though the offspring inherits two genes for each trait from its parents but
the trait shown by the offspring depends on which inherited gene is
dominant of the two.
GENES
When a male gamete fuses with a female gamete
during fertilization, they make a new cell called zygote
with a full set of genes (on a full set of chromosomes) .
This zygote grows & develops to form a new organism
having characteristics (or traits) from both the parents
which it has inherited through genes.
The two genes (or pair of genes) responsible for a
particular characteristics are always present on the
corresponding positions of the pair of chromosomes .
BLOOD GROUPS
A person has one of the four blood groups: A, B, O, AB.
A and B are co-dominant genes whereas O is a recessive
gene.
The genes for blood groups are denoted by: IA ( A in
superscript), IB etc.
If the genotype is IA IA or IA IO, then the blood group is A.
If the genotype is IB IB or IB IO, then the blood group is B.
If the genotype is IO IO, then the blood group is O.
SEX DETERMINATION
The process by which the sex of a
person is determined is called sex
determination .
The chromosomes which determine the sex
of a person are called sex chromosomes .
Sex chromosome in male is XY and in
female it is XX
If a sperm carrying X chromosome fertilizes
an ovum then the child born will be a girl .
If a sperm carrying Y chromosome fertilizes
an ovum then the child born will be a boy .
It is the sperm which determines the sex of a
child .
CQUIRED AND INHERITE
TRAITS
A trait of an organism which is not inherited but develops in
response to the environment is called an acquired trait.
Acquired traits cannot be passed on to the future generations.
Ex: Knowledge of doing something or any characteristic which was caused
due to environmental factors and not present by birth .
2. 1:1
3. Phenotype
The more characteristics a species have in common, the more closely they
will be related.
Fossils are obtained by digging into the Earth. The age of fossils are
estimated by the relative method or carbon dating method.
There are various kinds of fossils. Some important fossils are ammonite,
trilobite and dinosaur.
DARWINS THEORY
Darwins theory can be described as follows:
Within any population, there is natural variation. Some individuals have
more favorable variations than others.
Even though all species produce a large number of offsprings, populations
remain fairly constant naturally.
This is due to the struggle between members of the same species and
different species for food, space and mate.
The struggle for survival within populations eliminates the unfit individuals.
The fit individuals possessing favorable variations survive and reproduce.
This is called natural selection. The individuals having favorable variations
pass on these variations to their progeny from generation to generation.
These variations when accumulated over a long period of time, lead to the
origin of new species.
NATURAL SELECTION
Natural selection is the process of evolution of a species whereby
characteristics which help individual organisms to survive and
reproduce are passed on to their offsprings, and those
characteristics which do not help are not passed on.
Though Darwins theory was widely accepted, but it was criticized on the
ground that it could not explain how the variations arise. With the progress
in genetics, the source of variation was explained to be the Genes. Genes
vary in natural population. Genetic variation is the raw material of evolution.
So, Darwins theory was modified accordingly. These days, the most accepted
theory of evolution is the Synthetic theory of evolution. In which the
origin of species is based on both genetic variation and natural selection .
SPECIATION
A species is a population of organisms consisting of similar
individuals which can breed together and produce fertile offspring.
The process by which new species develop from existing species is known as
speciation.
When farmers wanted very short distances between the leaves of wild
cabbage, the common variety of cabbage was evolved.
When farmers wanted arrested flower development of wild cabbage,
broccoli was evolved.
When farmers wanted sterile flowers of wild cabbage, cauliflower was
evolved.
When farmers wanted swollen parts of wild cabbage, kohlrabi was evolved.
When farmers wanted to grow large leaves of wild cabbage, kale was
evolved.
EVOLUTION IS NOT
PROGRESS
There is no real progress in the concept of evolution. Evolution is just the
production of diversity of life forms and shaping of this diversity by
environmental selection. The only progress in evolution is that more and
more complex organisms have emerged over ages.
2. Genetics
3. Homo sapiens
5. Archaeopteryx