alleryStart learning →How many chromosomes does the garden pea have, a number that has fuelled debate about Mendel's choice of characteristics?
AFive chromosomes
BSeven chromosomes
CFourteen chromosomes
DTwenty chromosomes
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Seven chromosomes
1. Mendel reported on seven characteristics and never mentioned linkage.
2. The garden pea has seven chromosomes, the same number.
3. Some have suggested his choice of seven characteristics was not a coincidence.
4. Others note that recombination shuffles alleles so extensively that he may simply never have seen linkage.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 12 "Mendel's Experiments and Heredity", section 12.3 Laws of Inheritance_
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