Question

what is "segregated" in Mendel's "law of segregation

Answer 1

Mendel's law of segregation states that alleles of genes seperate when gametes are formed. This applys to the segregation of alleles of one gene.


Mendel's Law of Segregation applies to two (or more) alleles (alternative versions of a gene). The law says that alleles segregate (separate from each other) at some point before the formation of gametes, and are combined randomly at fertilization.

An example:

The seeds of a garden pea may be round or wrinkled. Round shape is determined by a gene R, and wrinkled shape by r. When Mendel crossed F1 plants (Rr) he found that, although all the parents had round seeds, about one-quarter of their offspring had wrinkled seeds.

After much experimenting over a number of generations, Mendel came to the conclusion that we call his first law, or the law of segregation. He suggested that the offspring could be RR, Rr, or rr, and that each form occurred in a statistically predictable proportion.

Modern explanation:

In every set of chromosomes there is one copy of each gene in the organism's genome. The pea plant, like a human, has two sets of chromosomes in most cells (which are therefore called diploid cells) and therefore two copies of the gene. These two copies may be identical or different.

Segregation occurs during meiosis I, when a diploid cell divides into two haploid cells. Fertilization restores the diploid number.

Answer 2

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