Mendelian Genetics
Terminology of Mendelian Genetics Gene: Gene is a segment of DNA that determines a biological character of an organism. It is also called the basic unit of heredity. Genome: The total genetic content of an organism is called genome. Allele or allelomorph: Allele or allelomorph is an alternate form of the same gene in which one is paternal and the other is maternal. For illustration, a gene for the plant height has two alleles - a gene for tallness (T) and a gene for dwarfness (t). Locus: The point on a chromosome where an allele is located is called locus (pl. loci). Homozygous: A diploid individual that carries two identical (similar) alleles of the same gene is known as homozygous individual or homozygote. For illustration, A pea plant having both the alleles of tallness (TT) is homozygous individual for tallness. Heterozygous: A diploid individual that has two different alleles of the same gene is called heterozygous individual or heterozygote. For example, an individual pea pl...
