Question

How many pairs of contrasting characters in pea plants were studied by Mendel in his experiments?
A. Eight
B. Seven
C. Five
D. Six

Answer 1

Hint: The botanical name of pea is Pisum sativum. Gregor Mendel was the father of genetics. He selected the pea plant for his experiments because pea plants have easily observable traits.

Complete Answer:
The pair of contrasting characters means that a single character exhibits two opposite characters.
There are seven pairs of contrasting characters in pea plants that were studied by Mendel for his experiments. These are-

Sl.No	Trait	Dominant Allele	Recessive Allele
1	Height	Tall (T)	Dwarf (t)
2	Seed Colour	Yellow (Y)	Green (y)
3	Seed Shape	Round (R)	Wrinkled (r)
4	Flower Colour	Purple (P)	White (p)
5	Flower Position	Axial (A)	Terminal (a)
6	Pod colour	Green (G)	Yellow (g)
7	Pod Shape	Smooth (S)	Constricted (s)

Hence, the option B is the right answer.

Note: Mendel with the help of his experiment on pea plants gave the basic three principles of plant genetics upon which the further study of genetics is based. He gave the name character to gene.