Given below two statements: one is labelled as assertion A and the other is labelled as Reason R

Assertion A: In F2 generation of a Mendelian cross, the traits seen in the progeny are identical to their parents.

Reason R: The progeny of the F2 generation in a Mendelian cross shows no blending of traits.

In the light of the above statements, chose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

Both A and R are correct and R is the correct explanation of A

The correct answer is Option (1)- Both A and R are correct and R is the correct explanation of A

In monohybrid Mendelian cross, F1 generation shows phenotype of only one parent while F2 generation has progenies expressing phenotype of both parents. This observation was possible because there is no blending of traits occur. This also led to the conclusion that traits are governed by discrete units.

Both A and R are correct and R is the correct explanation of A.

Mendel crossed tall and dwarf pea plants to study the inheritance of one gene . He collected the seeds produced as a result of this cross and grew them to generate plants of the first hybrid generation. This generation is also called the Filial1 progeny or the F1. Mendel observed that all the F1 progeny plants were tall, like one of its parents; none were dwarf.

He made similar observations for the other pairs of traits – he found that the F1 always resembled either one of the parents, and that the trait of the other parent was not seen in them. Mendel then self-pollinated the tall F1 plants and to his surprise found that in the Filial2 generation some of the offspring were ‘dwarf ’; the character that was not seen in the F1 generation was now expressed.

The proportion of plants that were dwarf were 1/4th of the F2 plants while 3/4th of the F2 plants were tall. The tall and dwarf traits were identical to their parental type because they did not show any blending, that is all the offspring were either tall or dwarf, none were of in- between height .