Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The duplication and transmission of genetic material from one generation of cells to the next is the basis for molecular inheritance and the link between the classical and molecular pictures of genes. Organisms inherit the characteristics of their parents because the cells of the offspring contain copies of the genes in their parents' cells.
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) [1] [2] [3] is the movement of genetic material between organisms other than by the ("vertical") transmission of DNA from parent to offspring (reproduction). [4] HGT is an important factor in the evolution of many organisms.
Conversely, some phenotypes could be the result of multiple genotypes. The genotype is commonly mixed up with the phenotype which describes the result of both the genetic and the environmental factors giving the observed expression (e.g. blue eyes, hair color, or various hereditary diseases).
DNA's role in heredity was confirmed in 1952 when Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase in the Hershey–Chase experiment showed that DNA is the genetic material of the enterobacteria phage T2. [ 205 ] Photo 51 , showing X-ray diffraction pattern of DNA
The term "genome" usually refers to the DNA (or sometimes RNA) molecules that carry the genetic information in an organism, but sometimes it is uncertain which molecules to include; for example, bacteria usually have one or two large DNA molecules (chromosomes) that contain all of the essential genetic material but they also contain smaller ...
These alleles have new DNA sequences and can produce proteins with new properties. [14] So if an island was populated entirely by black mice, mutations could happen creating alleles for white fur. The combination of mutations creating new alleles at random, and natural selection picking out those that are useful, causes an adaptation .
Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and among populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as adaptation , speciation , and population structure .
These mobile genetic elements do not have a protective protein coating. Specifically, these mobile genetic elements are found in angiosperms. [20] [21] [26] Endogenous viral element: These are viral nucleic acids integrated into the genome of a cell. They can move and replicate multiple times in the host cell without causing disease or mutation.