Table of Contents
- Alleles
- Summary
- Did You Know?
- What’s Next?
In the last segment of the chapter ‘Heredity and Evolution’, we learnt about chromosomes. In this segment, let us get introduced to alleles.
What are Alleles?
- Chromosomes are homologous if they have the same set of genes.
- In a chromosome pair, one pair of genes, say B and b, define the eye colour.
- So, B and b form the same set of genes, but they are not the same genes.
- Since both chromosomes have genes for the same character on the same locus, they can be called Homologous chromosomes.
Alleles
- B and b are not the same genes because they are two different alleles.
- Two or more alternative forms of genes which are located at the same place on the chromosome are called Alleles.
- They are forms of genes that give different traits.
For example, alleles for black eye colour, for brown eye colour, for blue eye colour, etc.
