Term | Definition |
Genetics | the science of heredity and of the mechanisms by which traits are passed from parents to offspring |
Heredity | the passing of genetic traits from parent to offspring |
Trait | a genetically determined characteristic |
Pollination | the transfer of pollen from the male reproductive structures (the anthers) to the tip of a female reproductive structure (the pistil) of a flower in angiosperms or to the ovule in gymnosperms |
Self-Pollination | the transfer of pollen grains from an anther to the stigma of the same flower or to the stigma of another flower on the same plant |
Cross- Pollination | a reproductive process in which pollen from one plant is transferred to the stigma of another plant |
True- Breeding | describes organisms or genotypes that are homozygous for a specific trait and thus always produce offspring that have the same phenotype for that trait |
P Generation | parental generation, the first two individuals that mate in a genetic cross |
F1 Generation | the first generation of offspring obtained from an experimental cross of two organisms |
F2 Generation | the second generation of offspring, obtained from an experimental cross of two organisms; the offspring of the F1 generation |
Dominant | in genetics, describes an allele that is fully expressed whenever the allele is present in an individual |
Recessive | in genetics, describes an allele that is expressed only when no dominant allele is present in an individual |
Law of Segregation | Mende's law that states that the pairs of homologous chromosomes separate in meiosis so that only one chromosome from each pair is present in each gamete |
Law of Independent Assortment | the law that states that genes separate independently of one another in meiosis |
Molecular Genetics | the study of the structure of nucleic acids and the function and regulation of genes |
Allele | one of the alternative forms of a gene that governs a characteristic, such as hair color |