MENDEL'S EXPERIMENTAL PLANT
Mendel selected common garden pea (Pisum sativum) for his experiments, because:-
(i) The pea is small and annual plant. Duration of life cycle is about 2-3 months only. A large number of offsprings can analyse with short duration.
(ii) It had many contrasting traits.
(iii) Self pollination is found naturally in pea plant.
(iv) Cross pollination can possible artificially by which hybridization takes place amongs the different varieties of pea. (v) Pea plant easy to cultivate and there is no much need requires for care.
Characters of Garden Pea picked up by Mendel
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Sr. No.
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Cha ra cte rs
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Dom ina nt
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Re ce ssive
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1
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Plant Height
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Tall (T)
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Dwarf (t)
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2
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Flower or Pod Position
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Axial (A)
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Terminal (a)
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3
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Pod Colour
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Green (G)
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Yellow (g)
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4
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Pod Shape
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Inflated (I)
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Constricted (i)
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5
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Colour of Seed Coat/Flower
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Coloured (C)
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W hite (c)
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6
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Seed Shape
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Round (R)
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W inkled (r)
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7
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Seed (Cotyledon) Colour
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Yellow (Y)
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Green (y)
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TECHNIQUE OF MENDEL
1. He develops a technique for hybridization in plants i.e; Emasculation and Bagging techniques.
2. Flower of pea plant are bisexual. On this method one considered as male and another as female.
3. The plant used as female, stamen of this plant removed at juvenile stage. This is called Emasculation.
4. Emasculation is done only to check self pollination.
5. Emasculated plants binded by bags. This is called Bagging.
6. Bagging only used for to check undesirable cross pollination.
7. Pollen grains collected from male plants after maturation and spreading over emasculated plants. By this, pollination is over.
8. Seeds are formed in the female flower after pollination.
9. The plants obtains from these seeds is called first filial generation according to Mendels or F1 generation.
10. Mendel was a great plant breader.