Difference Between Blending and Particulate Inheritance

The key difference between blending and particulate inheritance is that in blending inheritance, offspring is a blend of both parents, while in particulate inheritance, offspring is a combination of both parents.  

Genes are the basic units of inheritance. Offspring receives genes or substances of inheritance from their parents (mother and father). Blending inheritance and particulate inheritance are two theories in biology which explain the inheritance of traits to offspring. According to blending inheritance theory, offspring receives an intermediate or average phenotype of the parent phenotypes. According to particulate inheritance, offspring receives one gene from mother, and one gene from father and they are expressed independently without blending. Blending inheritance was dismissed by the theory of particulate inheritance.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Blending Inheritance
3. What is Particulate Inheritance
4. Similarities Between Blending and Particulate Inheritance
5. Side by Side Comparison – Blending vs Particulate Inheritance in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is Blending Inheritance?

Blending inheritance is an early theory that says offspring get a blend of hereditary substances from parents. Therefore, the offspring shows intermediate characteristics between those of the parents. In other words, blending theory says that two parents produce offspring with characteristics that are intermediate between those of the parents. Therefore, offspring is merely an average between the two different characteristics of their parents. As an example to explain this theory, we can consider the cross of two varieties which produce white flowers and red flowers. If this cross produces pink coloured offspring, it shows blending inheritance.

However, this theory is now an obsolete theory – it is no longer accepted. Moreover, natural selection is not possible if the inheritance takes place according to the blending inheritance.

What is Particulate Inheritance?

Particulate inheritance is a theory explained by Gregor Mendel. It states that discrete particles or genes are passed from parents to offspring. Genes that come from father and mother are independently expressed in offspring without merging or blending. Moreover, genes are passed from generation to generation.

Recessive genes may not be expressed due to the dominant gene, but they remain and keep their ability to be expressed in a later generation when they are in a homozygous state. Mendel proposed this theory by carrying out experiments on pea plants. He also explained that genetic variation can be inherited and maintained over time.

What are the Similarities Between Blending and Particulate Inheritance?

• Blending inheritance and particulate inheritance are two theories postulated to explain the inheritance of genetic materials from parents to offspring.

What is the Difference Between Blending and Particulate Inheritance?

Blending inheritance states that an offspring is a blend of parent’s values of that characteristic. In contrast, particulate inheritance states an offspring receives discrete units or genes from its parents without blending. Therefore, offspring is a combination of both parents. So, this is the key difference between blending and particulate inheritance. Blending inheritance was postulated in Darwin’s time while particulate inheritance was explained by Gregor Mendel.

Moreover, blending inheritance is an obsolete theory, while particulate inheritance is an accepted theory.

Below infographic of the difference between blending and particulate inheritance shows more comparisons related to both inheritances.

Summary – Blending vs Particulate Inheritance

Blending inheritance states that offspring is always an intermediate blend of their parents’ characteristics. In contrast, particulate inheritance states that offspring receives discrete units from their parents. Blending inheritance theory is no longer an accepted theory while particulate inheritance is an accepted theory in biology. Genetic variation is inherited and maintained according to the particulate inheritance, while genetic variation is not possible according to the blending inheritance. Thus, this is the summary of the difference between blending and particulate inheritance.

Reference:

1. “Particulate Inheritance”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2020, Available here.
2. Griffiths, Anthony et al. “Introduction”. Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov, 2020, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Blending inheritance” By Squididdily at en.wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Punnett square mendel flowers” By Madprime – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia