Direction: In the following questions a statement of assertion (A) is...
Mendel chose garden pea as plant material for his experiments, since it had the following advantages
(i) Well defined characters.
(ii) Bisexual flowers.
(iii) Predominantly self-fertilization.
(iv) Easy hybridization.
Besides these features, garden pea, being self-fertilized, had pure lines due to natural self-fertilization for a number of years. Therefore, any variety used was pure for the characters it carried. Mendel’s success was mainly based on the fact that he considered a single character at one time.
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Direction: In the following questions a statement of assertion (A) is...
Assertion (A): Mendel was successful in his hybridization.
Reason (R): Garden pea proved ideal experimental material.
The correct answer is option 'B': Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true but reason (R) is not the correct explanation of assertion (A).
Explanation:
Mendel, an Austrian monk, conducted a series of experiments on plant hybridization in the 19th century. He is considered the father of modern genetics and his work laid the foundation for the science of genetics.
Reason (R) - Garden pea proved ideal experimental material:
The garden pea (Pisum sativum) was the plant species that Mendel chose for his experiments on hybridization. There were several reasons why Mendel selected garden pea as his experimental material:
1. Easy availability: Garden pea plants were easily available and could be grown in large numbers, making it convenient for conducting experiments.
2. Short life cycle: Garden pea plants have a relatively short life cycle, allowing Mendel to observe multiple generations within a shorter period. This was crucial for his experiments involving the inheritance of traits across generations.
3. Easy to control pollination: Garden pea plants have both male and female reproductive organs in the same flower, making it easier for Mendel to control their pollination. He could manually cross-pollinate the plants by transferring pollen from one plant to another, ensuring controlled breeding.
4. Clear and distinct traits: Garden pea plants exhibit several easily distinguishable traits, such as flower color (purple or white), seed color (yellow or green), and seed texture (round or wrinkled). These traits allowed Mendel to track their inheritance patterns accurately.
5. True-breeding lines: Mendel used true-breeding lines, which are plants that consistently produce offspring with the same traits as the parent when self-pollinated or crossed with similar plants. This ensured that the traits being studied were not influenced by any hidden variations.
Assertion (A) - Mendel was successful in his hybridization:
Mendel's experiments on hybridization involved cross-breeding garden pea plants with different traits and observing the inheritance patterns in the offspring. Through his meticulous observations and analysis of the data, Mendel formulated the laws of inheritance, which are known as Mendelian genetics. His work was highly successful and laid the foundation for our understanding of how traits are passed from one generation to another.
Conclusion:
While the reason provided for Mendel's success in hybridization is accurate, it does not directly explain why Mendel was successful. The reason only highlights the advantages of using garden pea as an experimental material. Mendel's success was primarily due to his careful experimental design, systematic observations, and accurate analysis of the data he obtained. Therefore, option 'B' is the correct answer.
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