1.

How do Mendel’s experiments show that traits may be

dominant or recessive?
Ans: 1. Gregor Mendel's experiments with pea plants
demonstrated that traits can be dominant or recessive by
showing that one trait is expressed in the first generation (F1)
while the other is not, and then reappears in the second
generation (F2):

 Experiment: Mendel crossed pure tall pea plants with pure dwarf pea
plants.
 Observation: All the offspring in the F1 generation were tall.
 Self-crossing: When the F1 generation was self-crossed, the offspring in
the F2 generation were 75% tall and 25% dwarf.
 Conclusion: The tall trait is dominant over the dwarf trait.
Mendel's experiments demonstrated that when two contrasting
traits are present in a hybrid, one trait is dominant and the other is
recessive. The dominant trait is expressed in the hybrid, while the
recessive trait is not. The recessive trait only expresses itself when it
is in its pure form.
2. How do Mendel’s experiments show that traits are inherited
independently?
Ans: 2. Mendel’s experiments show that traits are inherited
independently through his dihybrid cross experiment. The experiment
involved him using two traits – namely, seed shape and seed colour.
The colour yellow (YY) is dominant over green (yy), while the round
shape (RR) is dominant over the wrinkled shape (rr). The F2 progeny of
the dihybrid cross resulted in a phenotypic ratio of 9:3:3:1; therefore, 9
plants with round yellow (RRYY) seeds, 3 plants with round green
(RRyy) seeds and 3 plants with wrinkled yellow (rrYY) seeds and one
with wrinkled green seeds (rryy). He further observed that the wrinkled
greens and the round yellow are parental combinations while the round
green and wrinkled yellow are new. A dihybrid cross between two
seeds with dominant traits (RRYY) and non-dominant traits (rryy)
resulted in the production of 4 types of gametes (RY, Ry, rY and ry).
This means each of the gametes segregates independently of the
 other, and each with a frequency of 25% of the total gametes
produced.
3. A man with blood group A marries a woman with blood group
O, and their daughter has blood group O. Is this information
enough to tell you which of the traits – blood group A or O – is
dominant? Why or why not?
Given information is not enough to tell us which characteristics are
dominant – blood group A or O. Blood type A is always dominant in ABO
blood, and blood type O is always recessive. Here, the father’s blood
group may be genotypically AA (homozygous) or AO (heterozygous),
whereas that of the mother can be OA or OO.
4. How is the sex of the child determined in human beings?
Do it from your notes

Exercise

1.A Mendelian experiment consisted of breeding tall pea plants

bearing violet flowers with short pea plants bearing white flowers.
The progeny all bore violet flowers, but almost half of them were
short. This suggests that the genetic make-up of the tall parent can
be depicted as:

A. TTWW

B. TTww

C. TtWW

D. TtWw

The correct option is C

TtWW

Explanation of the incorrect option:

Option A:

All progeny of the plant with genotype TTWW will have tall height and violet
color flowers.

Option B:
All progeny of the plant with genotype TTww will have tall height and white
color flowers.

Option D:

All progeny of the plant with genotype TtWw will have 50% tall height white
color flower and 50% short height and violet color flower.

Final answer: A Mendelian experiment consisted of breeding tall pea plants

bearing violet flowers with short pea plants bearing white flowers. The
progeny all bore violet flowers, but almost half of them were short. This
suggests that the genetic make-up of the tall parent can be depicted as
TtWW.

Q.2. A study found that children with light-coloured eyes are likely to
have parents with light-coloured eyes. On this basis, can we say
anything about whether the light eye colour trait is dominant or
recessive? Why or why not?

No, we cannot say anything about whether the light eye colour trait
is dominant or recessive based on above given fact because:
It is not clear whether parents are heterozygous or homozygous.
It requires to study inheritance pattern upto three or more
generations.
3. Outline a project which aims to find the dominant coat
color in dogs.
Select a homozygous black BB male dog and a homozygous white
bb female dog. Crossbreed them and produce offspring F1
generation. If all the offsprings are black we can conclude that black
coat colour is dominant over white coat in dogs.
4.How is the equal genetic contribution of male and female
parents ensured in the progeny?
In human beings, every somatic cell of the body contains 23 pairs of
chromosomes. Out of these 23 pairs, the first 22 pairs are known as
autosomes and the remaining one pair is known as sex
chromosomes represented as X and Y.
Females have two X chromosomes and males have one X and one Y
chromosome.

The gamete receives half of the chromosomes. Therefore, the male

gametes have 22 autosomes and either X or Y chromosome.

The female gamete, on the other hand, has 22 autosomes and X

chromosome.

During reproduction, the male and female gametes fuse and thus
the progeny receives 22 autosomes and one X or Y chromosome
from male parent and 22 autosomes and one X chromosome from
the female parent