- 1. In the mid-19th century, Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk and botanist, conducted groundbreaking experiments on plant hybridization that would lay the foundation for the field of genetics. By carefully breeding pea plants (Pisum sativum), Mendel meticulously observed the inheritance of traits such as color, shape, and size across generations. His pioneering work involved cross-pollinating the plants and documenting the ratios of the traits in the offspring, which revealed the distinct patterns of dominance and recessiveness. Through these experiments, Mendel formulated his famous laws of inheritance, including the Law of Segregation and the Law of Independent Assortment. These laws demonstrated that traits are inherited as discrete units, later known as genes, and that the inheritance of one trait does not influence the inheritance of another. Although his work went largely unrecognized during his lifetime, it eventually provided crucial insights into genetic inheritance, influencing the fields of biology, agriculture, and medicine, and earning Mendel the title of the father of modern genetics.
What is the primary focus of Gregor Mendel's experiments?
A) Animal behavior
B) Human genetics
C) Plant hybridization
D) Soil composition
- 2. What term describes the different forms of a gene?
A) Loci
B) Alleles
C) Chromosomes
D) Genomes
- 3. What is the outcome of a monohybrid cross?
A) One trait
B) Two traits
C) No traits
D) Multiple traits
- 4. What was Mendel's conclusion about dominant and recessive traits?
A) Dominant traits mask recessive traits
B) Recessive traits are always expressed
C) All traits are equally dominant
D) Dominant traits do not exist
- 5. In a genotype, what does the term 'homozygous' mean?
A) Different alleles
B) Single allele
C) Identical alleles
D) Variable alleles
- 6. What generation is produced by crossing two purebred parents in Mendel's experiments?
A) P generation
B) F1 generation
C) F2 generation
D) F3 generation
- 7. What is the law that states alleles separate during gamete formation?
A) Law of Genetics
B) Law of Independent Assortment
C) Law of Segregation
D) Law of Dominance
- 8. Mendel published his work in which of the following?
A) The Journal of Genetics
B) Science
C) Nature
D) The Proceedings of the Natural History Society
- 9. What are the possible genotypes for a plant exhibiting a dominant trait?
A) Only heterozygous
B) Homozygous dominant or heterozygous
C) Homozygous recessive
D) Only homozygous recessive
- 10. In genetic notation, what does 'Aa' represent?
A) Phenotypically recessive
B) Heterozygous genotype
C) Homozygous recessive
D) Homozygous dominant
- 11. What is the term for the observable traits of an organism?
A) Phenotype
B) Chromosome
C) Genotype
D) Allele
- 12. Mendel's work laid the foundation for which scientific field?
A) Genetics
B) Botany
C) Evolution
D) Ecology
- 13. In which year did Mendel publish his work on hybridization?
A) 1870
B) 1889
C) 1856
D) 1866
- 14. Mendel's experiments suggested that traits are inherited independently. What is this principle called?
A) Segregation
B) Independent assortment
C) Dominance
D) Hybridization
- 15. What form of inheritance shows both traits equally in the phenotype?
A) Polygenic inheritance
B) Recessive dominance
C) Codominance
D) Incomple dominance
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