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(a) Why did Mendel choose pea plants for his experiments? Give any five reasons. (b) State Mendel’s law of independent assortment.
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: September 25th, 2023
The pea plant flowers are hermaphrodite which means it has bisexual characteristics. Because of his genetic research with the pea or Pisum Sativum, Mendel is regarded as the father of modern genetics.
(a) Pea plants were chosen for the genetic experiments for this reason.
The following factors led to the selection of pea plants for genetic studies:
- Garden plants are simple to grow.
- Pea plant blooms are hermaphrodites, which means they exhibit traits of both sexes.
- Self-fertilization makes it simple to obtain pure-breed plants.
- Pea plants produce more quickly than other plants.
- They have a high rate of survival and excellent disease resistance.
(b) Mendel’s law of independent assortment
According to the law of independent assortment, sexually reproducing organisms inherit several gene alleles separately from one another.
Table of content
Mendel’s law
Mendel’s laws, also known as the laws of inheritance, were developed as a result of the two experiments. These laws are:
- Mendel’s first law of inheritance is often known as the law of dominance. Only the dominant trait in the phenotypic will be passed down to hybrid offspring, in accordance with the law of dominance. Recessive characteristics are those alleles that are suppressed, whereas dominant traits are those alleles that control the trait.
- Law of Segregation – According to the law of segregation, two copies of each hereditary factor segregate during the development of gametes so that kids inherit one element from each parent. Alternatively put, allele (an alternate version of the gene) pair segregation occurs during gamete development and random reunification occurs after fertilisation. This is often referred to as the third law of inheritance by Mendel.
- The law of independent assortment also referred to as Mendel’s second law of inheritance states that during gamete formation, a pair of traits segregate independently of another pair. Different traits have an equal chance to occur together as the individual heredity factors assort independently.
Summary:
(a) Why did Mendel choose pea plants for his experiments? Give any five reasons. (b) State Mendel’s law of independent assortment.
Mendel selected pea plants due to their ease of growth. Since pea plant blooms are hermaphrodites, they exhibit traits of both sexes. According to Mendel’s law of independent assortment, sexually reproducing organisms absorb various gene alleles in their own unique ways.
