INDEPENDENT ASSORTMENT
Homozygous
Having a pair of identical alleles
Heterozygous
Having two different alleles for a gene
Phenotype
Organism's traits
Genotype
Organism's genetic makeup
Monohybrid
Organisms heterozygous for only one character
Dihybrid
Organisms heterozygous for two characters
Dependent Assortment vs Independent Assortment
Dependent Assortment
- Different traits stay together through the generations (ie, alleles inherited together)
- If true, expect a 3:1 phenotype ratio of the offspring of a dihybrid cross
Independent Assortment
- Alleles inherited independently of one another
- If true, expect at 9:3:3:1 phenotype ratio of the offspring of a dihybrid cross
Mendel observed a 9:3:3:1 ratio of offspring so concluded that alleles are inherited independently of one another (though exceptions have been found to exist)