Monohybrid Cross Experiments by Gregor Mendel

How many plants in total were used in the monohybrid cross experiments ?

Final answer:

Answer

Gregor Mendel conducted seven types of monohybrid crosses in his experiments, each involving contrasting traits for different characteristics. At least two parent plants were used in each cross, but the total number of plants used across all crosses is not explicitly mentioned. Over eight years, Mendel studied more than 28,000 pea plants.

Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics, conducted groundbreaking experiments on pea plants in the 19th century, which laid the foundation for modern genetics. In his experiments, Mendel focused on understanding how traits are inherited from parents to offspring through what is known as monohybrid crosses.

In his monohybrid cross experiments, Mendel studied the inheritance of a single characteristic at a time, such as seed color or seed shape, by crossing pea plants with different contrasting traits. For example, in one of his experiments, he crossed purebred yellow pea plants with purebred green pea plants to understand how the trait of seed color is passed down to the next generation.

Each monohybrid cross involved at least two parent plants, one with dominant traits and one with recessive traits. The offspring resulting from these crosses were then used in subsequent crosses to further study the inheritance patterns of the traits. Mendel meticulously recorded the traits of each generation of pea plants over a period of eight years.

While the exact number of plants used in each specific monohybrid cross is not mentioned in the available data, it is known that Mendel studied over 28,000 pea plants in total across all his experiments. This large sample size allowed him to draw significant conclusions about the patterns of inheritance and propose his laws of heredity.