alleryStart learning →What did Mendel call the recessive allele in his own terminology?
AThe expressed unit factor
BThe segregating unit factor
CThe latent unit factor
DThe blended unit factor
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. The latent unit factor
1. Mendel used the term unit factor for what is now called a gene.
2. He called the dominant allele the expressed unit factor.
3. He called the recessive allele the latent unit factor, because it stays hidden in a heterozygote.
4. Segregation and blending describe processes, not the names he gave the two alleles.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 12 "Mendel's Experiments and Heredity", section 12.2 Characteristics and Traits_
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