In: Biology
Describe the experiments conducted by Mendell with the pea pods. How did it indicate the inheritance of traits?
2.Explain how a Punnett square can be used to predict trait heritability percentages.
Ans. Mendel’s experiment
Mendel chose the garden pea, Pisum sativum, for his experiments since it had the following advantages.
1. Well-defined discrete characters
2. Bisexual flowers
3. Predominant self fertilization
4. Easy hybridization
5. Easy to cultivate and relatively short life cycle
Characters studied by Mendel
The characteristics of an organism are described as characters or traits. Traits studied by Mendel were clear cut and discrete. Such clear-cut, discrete characteristics are known as Mendelian characters. Mendel studied seven characters/traits (all having two variants) and these are:
Dominant Recessive
1. Stem length Tall Dwarf
2. Flower position Axial Terminal
3. Flower color Violet White
Seed coat color Grey White
4. Pod shape Inflated Constricted
5. Pod color Green Yellow
6. Cotyledon color Yellow Green
7. Seed form Round Wrinkled
Flower color is positively correlated with seed coat colors. Seeds with white seed coats were produced by plants
that had white flowers and those with gray seed coats came from plants that had violet flower.