Question

Fruit flies were used as experimental material by Morgan as

• A. they have life cycle of about 10 weeks
• B. single mating produces a large number of progeny flies
• C. all the characteristics exhibited by flies can only be viewed under a microscope
• D. female flies are smaller in size than male flies and hence are easily distinguishable

Answer 1

The correct option is B single mating produces a large number of progeny flies

Fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) is considered as the “Cinderella of genetics” as it was used as the model organism in numerous genetic experiments. This led to the exploration of various important concepts of genetics like linkage and recombination.
The reason behind choosing them as experimental sample is as follows:-
- They have a life cycle of about two weeks.
- Female flies are larger than the male flies and are easily distinguishable.
- Flies have many types of hereditary variations that can be seen even with low power microscopes or sometimes even with naked eyes.
- Single mating produces a large number of progeny flies.