GENETICS VOCABULARY

TRAITS

• a characteristic or property of an organism

HEREDITY

• the passing of traits from parent to offspring Key Context Many varieties of apples that we buy at the grocery are the result of selective breeding. Breeding plants for particular genetic traits is possible because of heredity. Heredity is a process where biological characteristics or traits are passed on by genetic code from parents to offspring. Cultivated apples are bigger, tastier, and more disease resistant because they inherit those traits from selected varieties of the fruit.

SEXUAL REPRODUCTION

• A BIOLOGICAL PROCESS BY WHICH PLANTS AND ANIMALS CREATE OFFSPRING BY COMBINING THEIR GENETIC MATERIALE

ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION

• REPRODUCTION NOT REQUIRING FERTILIZATION; ONLY INVOLVES ONE PARENT

GENES

• THE BASIC UNIT OF HEREDITY IN A LIVING ORGANISM; A SEGMENT OF DNA OR RNA

CHROMOSOMES

• a tightly wound bundle of DNA and proteins found in the nucleus of most living cells

DNA

• found in the nucleus of a cell, a long nucleic acid molecule containing the genetic instructions for the development and functioning of all living organisms; abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid

GENOTYPE

• internal genetic coding passed on from one generation to the next

PHENOTYPE

• the observable traits of an organism passed on from parent to offspring

ALLELE

• one member of a pair or series of genes on specific chromosomes in specific positions