Mendel’s Experiments and the Laws of Probability

Review Questions

Mendel performed hybridizations by transferring pollen from the _______ of the male plant to the female ova.

  1. anther
  2. pistil
  3. stigma
  4. seed

Hint:

A

Which is one of the seven characteristics that Mendel observed in pea plants?

  1. flower size
  2. seed texture
  3. leaf shape
  4. stem color

Hint:

B

Imagine you are performing a cross involving seed color in garden pea plants. What F1 offspring would you expect if you cross true-breeding parents with green seeds and yellow seeds? Yellow seed color is dominant over green.

  1. 100 percent yellow-green seeds
  2. 100 percent yellow seeds
  3. 50 percent yellow, 50 percent green seeds
  4. 25 percent green, 75 percent yellow seeds

Hint:

B

Consider a cross to investigate the pea pod texture trait, involving constricted or inflated pods. Mendel found that the traits behave according to a dominant/recessive pattern in which inflated pods were dominant. If you performed this cross and obtained 650 inflated-pod plants in the F2 generation, approximately how many constricted-pod plants would you expect to have?

  1. 600
  2. 165
  3. 217
  4. 468

Hint:

C

A scientist pollinates a true-breeding pea plant with violet, terminal flowers with pollen from a true-breeding pea plant with white, axial flowers. Which of the following observations would most accurately describe the F2 generation?

  1. 75% violet flowers; 75% terminal flowers
  2. 75% white flowers in a terminal position
  3. 75% violet flowers; 75% axial flowers
  4. 75% violet flowers in an axial position

Hint:

C