Question:

Mention the advantages of selecting pea plant for experiment by Mendel.

CBSE CLASS XII

Updated On: Oct 4, 2023

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Solution and Explanation

Mendel selected pea plants to carry out his study on the inheritance of characters from parents to offspring.
He selected a pea plant because of the following features.
(a) Peas have many visible contrasting characters such as tall/dwarf plants round/wrinkled seeds green/yellow pod purple/white flowers etc.
(b) Peas have bisexual flowers and therefore undergo self pollination easily. Thus pea plants produce offsprings with same traits generation after generation.
(c) In pea plants cross pollination can be easily achieved by emasculation in which the stamen of the flower is removed without affecting the pistil.
(d) Pea plants have a short life span and produce many seeds in one generation.

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Notes on Principles of Inheritance and Variation

Concepts Used:

Principles of Inheritance and Variation - Mutation

A Mutation is a change in the sequence of our DNA base pairs caused by numerous environmental stimuli such as UV light or mistakes during DNA replication. Germline mutations take place in the eggs and sperm and can be passed onto offspring, whereas somatic mutations take place in body cells and are not passed on.

Types of Mutations

There are three types of mutations, which are as follows:

Silent mutation

It refers to any change in DNA sequence that has no effect on the amino acid sequence in a protein or the functions that a protein performs. There is no phenotypic indication that a mutation has occurred.

Nonsense mutation

When there is a change in the sequence of base pairs due to a point mutation, that results in a stop codon. This leads to a protein that is either shortened or non-functional.

Missense mutation

A missense mutation occurs when a point mutation causes a change in the codon, which then codes for another amino acid.

The mutation is caused by the following factors:

Internal Causes

When DNA copies incorrectly, the majority of mutations occur. Evolution occurs as a result of all of these mutations. DNA makes a copy of itself during cell division. When a copy of DNA isn't flawless, it's called a mutation since it differs somewhat from the original DNA.

External Causes

When certain chemicals or radiations are used to break down DNA, it causes the DNA to break down. The thymine dimers are broken by UV radiation, resulting in altered DNA.