Question

Why did Mendel select pea plants for his experiments?

Answer 1

Garden pea (Pisum sativum):

• Garden pea was selected by Gregor. J. Mendel for his experiments.
• Based on these studies only, he proposed principles of heredity.

Mendel's experiment:

• Gregor Johann Mendel is also known as the father of genetics.
• He studied the inheritance of the seven pairs of the contrasting traits present in the garden pea plants.
• He proposed three principles of heredity based on these studies.

The reasons why Mendel chose garden pea plants for his experiments:

• They are easy to cultivate.
• Their life cycle is quite short.
• The flowers of the pea plant are bisexual. Besides performing self-pollination, these plants can undergo cross-pollination if it is performed on them.
• The true-breeding or pure plants can be easily obtained through self-pollination.
• Their characteristics can be distinguished properly without any difficulty. This means that the traits in this plant can be easily observed (for example; tall versus dwarf plant).
• These plants possess large flowers. Therefore, anthers (male) can be easily removed to make this flower cross with the pollen from another flower.