Question

Explain Mendel's law of segregation with suitable examples.

Answer 1

The Mendelian Law of Segregation states that every individual organism contains two alleles for each trait, and that these alleles segregate (separate) during meiosis such that each gamete contains only one of the alleles. The allele pairs separate or segregate during gamete formation, and randomly unite at fertilization.

Example: The gene for seed color in pea plants exists in two forms. There is one form or allele for yellow seed color (Y) and another for green seed color (y). In this example, the allele for yellow seed color is dominant and the allele for green seed color is recessive. When the alleles of a pair are different (heterozygous), the dominant allele trait is expressed and the recessive allele trait is masked. Seeds with the genotype of (YY) or (Yy) are yellow, while seeds that are (yy) are green.