Mendel studied which type of inheritance.

Options

A. Polygenic inheritance
B. Quantitative inheritance
C. Qualitative inheritance
D. Cytoplasmic inheritance

Answer

**Step-by-Step Text Solution:**

1. **Understanding Mendel's Contributions**: Gregor Mendel, often referred to as the father of genetics, conducted experiments on pea plants to understand how traits are inherited from one generation to the next.

2. **Types of Inheritance**: Mendel's studies primarily focused on inheritance patterns that involve single traits controlled by single genes. This is known as **qualitative inheritance**.

3. **Qualitative Inheritance**: In qualitative inheritance, traits are determined by a single gene with two alleles (dominant and recessive). For example, in Mendel's pea plants, he studied traits like flower color and seed shape, which were controlled by one gene with two alleles.

4. **Exclusion of Other Inheritance Types**:
- **Polygenic Inheritance**: This involves multiple genes controlling a trait, which was not the focus of Mendel's work.
- **Quantitative Inheritance**: This refers to traits that are influenced by multiple genes and show continuous variation, which Mendel did not study.
- **Cytoplasmic Inheritance**: This involves traits controlled by genes in organelles like mitochondria and chloroplasts, which was also not part of Mendel's research.

5. **Conclusion**: Therefore, Mendel primarily studied **qualitative inheritance**, where traits are determined by single genes with dominant and recessive alleles.

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