Concept explainers
Describe Mendel's conclusions about how traits are passed from generation to generation.
To review:
Mendel’s conclusion about the mechanism by which traits are passed from generation-to-generation.
Introduction:
Gregor Mendel was an Austrian monk who proved that traits are passed through a certain unit of heredity from one generation to another. He conducted experiments using pea plants with different variants. Before Mendel, people had a concept that the traits were inherited by the next generation due to the blending of parental characters just like colors.
Explanation of Solution
Mendel conducted experiments using pea plants with variants such as variation in flower color, pod color and shape, seed color, and many other characters. That was a long series of experiments. Mendel got various results, which indicated that traits are transferred from one generation to another in a specific way that can be predicted.
He concluded that there are certain factors responsible for passing traits to offspring from the parents. These factors control the traits. This means each trait is controlled by a pair of a factor. These factors were later known as genes. At the time of gamete formation, the gene pair gets separated from each other. For a single trait, the offspring get one gene from each parent and have the pairing of two genes. Thus, the traits are transferred through genes.
Therefore, it can be concluded that according to Mendel, traits from the parents to offspring are transmitted through predictable factors known as genes.
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Chapter 1 Solutions
Essentials of Genetics (9th Edition) - Standalone book
- Mendel's second postulate states: When two different unit factors responsible for a characteristic are found in the same organism, one will dominate and determine the characteristic type. Explain this postulate using modern genetic terms. Be sure to include the following terms in your explanation: dominant, recessive, allele, phenotype, genotype.arrow_forwardIn Mendel's experiments, he obtained the following results: Which phenotypes can be said to be dominant?arrow_forwardExplain how Mendel’s interpretation of his pea plant experiments would have changed if he did not use pure breeding, homozygous genotypes in his P1 generation, but instead used heterozygotes.arrow_forward
- Why did Mendel’s work refute the idea of blending inheritance?arrow_forwardState the conclusions reached by Mendel in his work on the inheritance of characteristics. Explain how each of the following deviates from these conclusions: a. Autosomal linkage b. Sex-linked (X-linked) inheritance c. Polygenic (multiple-gene) inheritancearrow_forwardExplain the terms dominant and recessive in relation to alleles and phenotypes; explain Mendel’s law of dominancearrow_forward
- What did mendel conclude about traits and how they are passed from one generation to another?arrow_forwardState Mendel's second law of inheritance and explain with help of suitable example.arrow_forwardBriefly describe Mendel’s rule of inheritance: segregation and independent assortmentarrow_forward
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