Reproduction and Genetics Vocabulary. organism living thing (plant, animal, people, bacteria)

Reproduction and Genetics Vocabulary

organism

living thing (plant, animal, people, bacteria)

reproduce

to have offspring (children) of the same species

sexual reproduction

offspring inherit half of their DNA from each parent

asexual reproduction

single organism produces offspring with identical DNA to the parent

pollination

transfer of pollen from stamen (male part) to stigma (female part)

binary fission

type of asexual reproduction where organism (often bacteria) grows twice its size and splits in

two, with DNA in each half

bacteria conjugation

bacteria shares DNA directly with a cell, using a plasmid “bridge”

budding

asexual reproduction where offspring develops from a bud on the parent organism

spore

tiny body that can grow into a new organism;often produced by plants, fungi, and bacteria

fertilization

joining of male and female sex cells to form a new individual

development

how a living thing changes during its life

cell

basic unit of life

organelles

parts inside a cell

nucleus

cell part that controls cell activities (the boss)

cell membrane

cell part that controls what enters and leaves the cell (security guard)

mitosis

process of cellular division resulting in two identical “daughter cells”

meiosis

process of cellular division resulting in four sex cells with ½ DNA

genetics

the study of how traits of an individual re passed on to its offspring

trait

a characteristic inherited from a parent or parents

Examples: eye color, type of feather

DNA

chemical inside all cells with genetic information

gene

section of a chromosome that controls a specific inherited trait

chromosome

a structure in the cell nucleus that has DNA; each chromosome has many genes

Punnett square

a diagram used to calculate possible traits in offspring of the same parents

dominate gene

in a pair of genes, the dominate gene determines if a trait is present (B)

recessive gene

a gene that is masked if the dominate gene is present (b)

allele

each gene that codes for a different trait is called an allele

pedigree

a chart that shows the history of traits in a family

genotype

specific combination of all an organisms alleles

phenotype

traits an organisms exhibits (shows), based on alleles