click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Biology Ch 6 Vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Somatic cells | Also called body cells, make up most of your body tissues and organs. |
| Gametes | Sex cells. |
| Homologous chromosomes | Two chromosomes that are exactly the same. |
| Autosomes | Chromosome pairs 1 through 22. |
| Sex chromosomes | Chromosomes that directly control the development of sexual characteristics. |
| Sexual reproduction | The fusion of two gametes that results in offspring. |
| Fertilization | The fusion of an egg and a sperm cell. |
| Diploid | Means a cell has two copies of each chromosome. |
| Haploid | Means that a cell has only one copy of each chromosome. |
| Meiosis | A form of nuclear division that divides a diploid cell into haploid cells. |
| Gametogenesis | The production of gametes. |
| Sperm | The male gamete. |
| Egg | The female gamete. |
| Polar bodies | Cells with little more than DNA that are eventually broken down. |
| Traits | Distinguishing characteristics that are inherited, such as eye color, leaf shape, and tail length. |
| Genetics | The study of biological inheritance patterns and variation in organisms. |
| Purebred | Genetically uniform. |
| Cross | The mating of two organisms. |
| Law of segregation | Mendel's first law. |
| Gene | A piece of DNA that provides a set of instructions to a cell to make a certain protein. |
| Allele | Is any of the alternative forms of a gene that may occur at a specific locus. |
| Homozygous | Describes two of the same alleles at a specific locus. |
| Heterozygous | Describes two different alleles at a specific locus. |
| Genome | All of an organism's genetic material. |
| Genotype | The genetic makeup of a specific set of genes. |
| Phenotype | The physical characteristics of an organism. |
| Dominant allele | The allele that is expressed when two different alleles or two dominant alleles are present. |
| Recessive allele | The allele that is only expressed when two copies are present. |
| Punnett square | A grid system for predicting all possible genotypes resulting in a cross. |
| Monohybrid crosses | Crosses that examine the inheritance of only one specific trait. |
| Testcross | A cross between an organism with an unknown genotype and an organism with the recessive phenotype. |
| Dihybrid crosses | Crosses that examine the inheritance of two different traits. |
| Law of independent assortment | States that allele pairs separate independently of each other during gamete formation, or meiosis. |
| Probability | The likelihood that a particular event will happen. |
| Crossing over | The exchange of chromosome segments between homologous chromosomes during prophase 1 of meiosis 1. |
| Genetic linkage | Genes located close together tend to be inherited together. |