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Chapter 3: Problem 6

What advantages were provided by Mendel's choice of the garden pea in his experiments?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Answer: The advantages of Mendel's choice of the garden pea included ease of cultivation, visible trait variations, option for controlled pollination, clear-cut trait dominance, and large sample size, which contributed to the success of his work and the establishment of the foundation for the modern field of genetics.

Step by step solution

01

Advantage 1: Easy to Cultivate

One advantage of the garden pea was its ease of cultivation. The pea plants grew quickly, were easy to care for, and produced a large number of offspring. This allowed Mendel to perform multiple generations of experiments in a relatively short amount of time.
02

Advantage 2: Visible Trait Variations

The garden pea provided Mendel with a variety of easily observable traits, such as seed color, seed shape, flower color, and stem length. These traits could be easily distinguished visually, enabling Mendel to quickly and accurately categorize and record the traits displayed by the plants in each generation.
03

Advantage 3: Both Self-Pollination and Cross-Pollination

Garden pea plants have the unique ability to self-pollinate or be cross-pollinated. This allowed Mendel to closely control which plants were mating with each other and ensure that he was studying the inheritance of specific traits. By focusing on purebred lines, he could accurately predict and document the results of his crosses.
04

Advantage 4: Clear-cut Trait Dominance

Mendel's experiments relied on understanding the dominant and recessive traits in the garden pea. Luckily, the traits he chose displayed clear-cut dominance and recessiveness, making it easier to confirm his predictions and develop his theories on inheritance.
05

Advantage 5: Large Sample Size

The garden pea plants produced a large number of offspring, allowing Mendel to work with a substantial sample size for each experiment. This helped him to demonstrate the consistency of his findings and the accuracy of his theories.
06

Conclusion

Overall, Mendel's choice of the garden pea as the subject of his experiments was highly advantageous due to its ease of cultivation, visible trait variations, option for controlled pollination, clear-cut trait dominance, and large sample size. These factors contributed to the success of Mendel's work and the establishment of the foundation for the modern field of genetics.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

In assessing data that fell into two phenotypic classes, a geneticist observed values of \(250: 150 .\) She decided to perform a \(\chi^{2}\) analysis by using the following two different null hypotheses: (a) the data fit a 3: 1 ratio, and (b) the data fit a 1: 1 ratio. Calculate the \(\chi^{2}\) values for each hypothesis. What can be concluded about each hypothesis?

An alternative to using the expanded binomial equation and Pascal's triangle in determining probabilities of phenotypes in a subsequent generation when the parents' genotypes are known is to use the following equation: \(\frac{n !}{s ! t !} a^{s} b^{t}\) where \(n\) is the total number of offspring, \(s\) is the number of offspring in one phenotypic category, \(t\) is the number of offspring in the other phenotypic category, \(a\) is the probability of occurrence of the first phenotype, and \(b\) is the probability of the second phenotype. Using this equation, determine the probability of a family of 5 offspring having exactly 2 children afflicted with sickle-cell anemia (an autosomal recessive disease \()\) when both parents are heterozygous for the sickle-cell allele.

Albinism in humans is inherited as a simple recessive trait. For the following families, determine the genotypes of the parents and offspring. (When two alternative genotypes are possible, list both.) (a) Two normal parents have five children, four normal and one albino. (b) A normal male and an albino female have six children, all normal. (c) A normal male and an albino female have six children, three normal and three albino. (d) Construct a pedigree of the families in (b) and (c). Assume that one of the normal children in (b) and one of the albino children in (c) become the parents of eight children. Add these children to the pedigree, predicting their phenotypes (normal or albino).

The autosomal (not X-linked) gene for brachydactyly, short fingers, is dominant to normal finger length. Assume that a female with brachydactyly in the heterozygous condition is married to a man with normal fingers. What is the probability that (a) their first child will have brachydactyly? (b) their first two children will have brachydactyly? (c) their first child will be a brachydactylous girl?

To assess Mendel's law of segregation using tomatoes, a truebreeding tall variety (SS) is crossed with a true-breeding short variety \((s s) .\) The heterozygous \(F_{1}\) tall plants \((S s)\) were crossed to produce two sets of \(\mathrm{F}_{2}\) data, as follows. \(\begin{array}{cc}\text { Set I } & \text { Set II } \\ 30 \text { tall } & 300 \text { tall } \\ 5 \text { short } & 50 \text { short }\end{array}\) (a) Using the \(\chi^{2}\) test, analyze the results for both datasets. Calculate \(\chi^{2}\) values and estimate the \(p\) values in both cases. (b) From the above analysis, what can you conclude about the importance of generating large datasets in experimental conditions?
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