Question

Define law of segregation?

Answer 1

Hint: The law of segregation was given by Gregor Mendel as a result of his famous study of inheritance in pea plants. He is called the father of genetics. It is also known as the law of purity of gametes.

Complete Answer:
Mendel proposed two laws of inheritance from his experiment in a pea plant. He crossed pea plants and observed the seven characters. He observed that the traits which were absent in the F1 generation reappeared in the F2 generation without any blending. So he proposed two laws based on this observation.

The first law is called the law of Segregation: It states that the characters exist in pairs that separate at meiosis. In an individual, a pair of alleles for a particular trait. It states that during gamete formation the two alleles which are present at the same loci segregate from each other. Each gamete has equal chances of containing any one of the alleles. Separation of the alleles does not affect the other allele.

Significance:
- It describes how the genes are separated in the reproductive cells.
- It helps in understanding how the traits are inherited from generation to generation.
- It helps in understanding the single-gene inheritance pattern.

Additional Information: The law of dominance states that the trait which is expressed in the F1 generation is called the dominant trait and the trait which remains unexpressed is the recessive trait. For example when he crossed the tall and the dwarf plants, the F1 progeny was tall plants. He concluded that tall is dominant over dwarf.

Note: The law of segregation applies to the traits that are controlled by a single gene. It does not apply to incompletely dominant or codominant traits. These laws were formulated as a result of monohybrid cross.