Principles of Inheritance and Variation

1. Genetics is the subject that deals with

A) inheritance B) variation of characteristics C) reproduction D) both (a) and (b)
2. The basis of heredity is
A) variation B) inheritance C) mutation D) linkage

3. Humans knew from as early as 8000–1000 BC that one of the causes of variation was hidden in
A) sexual reproduction B) asexual reproduction C) vegetative propagation D) none of these

4. Choose the incorrect statement from the following.

A) Humans knew from very early that sexual reproduction is one of the causes of variation.
B) They exploited the variation to obtain plants and animals of desirable characters through selective breeding.
C) Sahiwal cows were obtained through artificial selection and domestication from ancestral wild cows.
D) Our ancestors were very well aware about the scientific basis of inheritance of characters and variation.
5. Which one from the following is the period for Mendel’s hybridization experiments?
A) 1840–1850 B) 1857–1869 C) 1870–1877 D) 1856–1863

6. Who proposed the ‘Laws of Inheritance’ in living organisms?

A) Mendel B) Morgan C) de Vries D) Correns

7. Match Column-I with Column-II and choose the correct answer from the codes given below.

8. Mendel investigated characters in the garden pea plant that were manifested as two
A) linked traits B) opposing traits C) similar traits D) none of these
9. How many pairs of contrasting characters in pea plants were studied by Mendel in his experiments?
(A) Six B) Eight C) Seven D) Four

10. Which contrasting trait was not studied by Mendel during his experiments?
A) Seed colour B) Leaf colour C) Flower colour D) Stem height
11. Among the following, which one is not a dominating trait?
A) Axial position of flower B) Green colour of pod C) Violet colour of flower D) Green colour of seed
12. A true-breeding line is one that
A) has undergone continuous selfpollination B) shows stable trait inheritance
C) shows expressions of trait for several generations D) all of these
13. Match Column-I with Column-II and choose the correct option from the codes given below.
14. Refer to the given figures (A–D) showing traits of pea plant studied by Mendel.
Among these, choose the dominant trait

A) B B) A C) D D) C

15. Which technique was used by Mendel during his experiments on pea plant?
A) Artificial pollination B) Cross pollination C) Self-pollination D) All of these

16. Choose the correct statement(s) from the following.

(I) During Mendel’s investigation, statistical analysis and mathematical logic were applied to problems in Biology.
(II) Mendel investigated characters in the garden pea plant that were manifested as two opposing traits.
(III) Mendel conducted artificial pollination experiments using several true-breeding pea lines.
(IV) Mendel selected eight true-breeding pea plant varieties as pairs.

A) I and II B) III and IV C) I, II and III D) All of these

17. The contrasting trait(s) selected by Mendel was/were
A) smooth or wrinkled seed B) yellow or green seed C) smooth or inflated pods D) all of these

18. Assertion: Mendel conducted hybridization experiments on garden pea plant.

Reason: He proposed laws of inheritance in living organisms.
A) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
B) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not correct explanation of assertion.
C) Assertion is true, but reason is false.
D) Both assertion and reason are false.
19. Assertion: Mendel used contrasting traits for his studies.
Reason: He used Ocimum plant for his experiments.
A) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
B) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not correct explanation of assertion.
C) Assertion is true, but reason is false.
D) Both assertion and reason are false.

20. Assertion: Mendel used true-breeding pea lines for his experiments.
Reason: A true-breeding line is one that has undergone continuous selfpollination.
A) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
B) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not correct explanation of assertion.
C) Assertion is true, but reason is false.
D) Both assertion and reason are false.

21. The first hybrid generation of Mendel’s experiment is known as

A) Filial1 progeny B) F1-generation C) Father generation D) Both (A) and (B)

22. When Mendel crossed true-breeding tall and dwarf plants, in F1-generation all tall plants were obtained.
On self-crossing in the F2 generation, he obtained
A) 1/4th dwarf and 3/4th tall plants
B) 3/4th dwarf and 1/4th tall plants
C) 2/4th dwarf and 2/4th tall plants
D) All dwarf plants

23. During the study of inheritance of one character in F2 generation, Mendel obtained phenotype in
A) 2 : 1 ratio B) 3 : 1 ratio C) 1 : 2 : 1 ratio D 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 ratio
24. The ‘factors’ of Mendel are today known as
A) genome B) gene C) DNA D) allele

25. The slightly different forms of the same genes are called
A) genome B) DNA C) allele D) cistron
26. Alleles are
A) true-breeding homozygotes
B) different molecular forms of a gene
C) heterozygotes
D) different phenotype

27. What would be the phenotype of a plant that had a genotype ‘Tt’? Here ‘T’ represent tall trait while ‘t’ represents
dwarf trait.
A) Tall B) Intermediate height C) Dwarf D) None of these

28. In homozygous condition, a particular gene has

A) different alleles on homologous chromosomes.
B) no alleles on homologous chromosomes.
C) some alleles on homologous chromosomes.
D) None of these
29. Tall and dwarf are the two alleles of gene of height. The dominant trait is
A) dwarf B) tall C) both are equally dominant D) both are recessive

30. Match Column-I with Column-II and choose the correct option from the codes given below.

31. A cross that is performed for the study of a single character is

A) dihybrid cross B) test cross C) monohybrid cross D) back cross

32. The given figure is the diagrammatic representation of a monohybrid cross. In the figure, some plants are
mentioned as A and B. What will be the genotype of these plants?

A) A – tt, B – Tt
B) A – Tt, B – tt
C) A – TT, B – TT
D) A – Tt, B – Tt
33. Choose the incorrect statement about Mendel’s monohybrid cross.
A) The recessive parental trait is expressed without any blending in F2 generation.
B) The alleles of parental pair segregate from each other and both alleles are transmitted to a gamete.
C) The segregation of alleles is a random process.
D) There is a 50% chance of a gamete containing either allele.

34. The production of gametes by the parents the formation of zygotes, the F1 and F2 plants, can be understood by
using:
A) Wenn diagram B) Pie diagram C) A pyramid diagram D) Punnett square

35. Select the correct statement.

A) Franklin Stahl coined the term ‘linkage’.
B) Punnett square was developed by a British scientist.
C) Spliceosomes take part in translation.
D) Transduction was discovered by S Altman.
36. In the test cross, organism whose genotype is to be determined, is crossed with the
A) recessive parent B) dominant parent C) both parents one by one D) none of these

37. On crossing two tall plants, in F1generation few dwarf offspring were obtained. What would be the
genotype of the both the parent?
A) TT and Tt B) Tt and Tt C) TT and TT D) TT and tt

38. Based on his observations of monohybrid cross, Mendel proposed which law of inheritance?
A) Law of dominance B) Law of segregation C) Law of independent assortment
D) Both (A) and (B)

39. According to Mendel, characters are controlled by discrete units called

A) genes B) factors C) Allele D) allelomorph

40. Choose the incorrect statement about law of dominance.

A) It is used to explain the expression of only one of the parental characters in a monohybrid cross in F1-generation.
B) It does not explain the expression of both parental characters in F2generation.
C) It also explains the proportion of 3: 1 obtained in F2-generation.
D) It states that characters are controlled by discrete units called factors.

41. Match Column-I with Column-II and choose the correct option from the codes given below.

42. The second law of inheritance, i.e., law of segregation is based on the fact that
A) alleles do not show any blending.
B) both characters are recovered as such in F2 generation.
C) one allele dominates the other allele.
D) Both (A) and (B)

43. The factor controlling any character is discrete and independent. It was concluded on the basis of
A) results of F3-generation of a cross.
B) observations of a cross made between the plants having two contrasting traits where offspring shows
only one trait without any blending.
C) self-pollination of F1-offspring.
D) cross pollination of parental generation.
44. In Antirrhinum (Snapdragon), a red flower was crossed with a white flower and in F1 generation, pink flowers
were obtained. When pink flowers were selfed, the F2 generation showed white, red and pink flowers. Choose the
incorrect statement from the following
A) The experiment does not follow the principle of dominance.
B) Pink colour in F1 is due to incomplete dominance.
C) Ratio of F2 is ¼ (Red): 2/4 (Pink): ¼ (white).
D) Law of segregation does not apply in this experiment.
45. It was being observed that sometimes, the F1 shows a phenotype that does not resemble either of the
two parents and remains in between the two. It can be explained by
A) Law of dominance B) Law of segregation C) Law of incomplete dominance D) None of these

46. The genotypic ratio obtained in incomplete dominance is

A) 3 : 1 B) 1 : 1 : 2 C) 2 : 1 : 1 D) 1 : 2 : 1

47. In case of co-dominance, the F1 progeny

A) resembles either of the two parents
B) is in between of parents
C) resembles both the parents
D) none of these
48. A person of AB blood group has IA and IB genes. It is an example of
A) pleiotropy B) segregation C) co-dominance D) None of these

49. In a marriage between male with blood group A and female with blood group B, the progeny had either blood
group AB or B. What could be the possible genotype of parents?
A) IAi (Male); IBi (Female)
B) IAi (Male); IBIB (Female)
C) IAIA (Male); IBIB (Female)
D) IAIA (Male); IBi (Female)
50. A person has ‘O’ blood group. His mother has ‘A’ while father has ‘B’ blood group. What would be the
genotype of mother and father?
A) Mother is homozygous for ‘A’ blood group and father is heterozygous for ‘B’ blood group.
B) Mother is heterozygous for ‘A’ blood group and father is homozygous for ‘B’ blood group.
C) Both mother and father are homozygous for ‘A’ and ‘B’ blood groups respectively.
D) Both mother and father are heterozygous for ‘A’ and ‘B’ blood groups respectively.
51. Which of the following characteristics represent ‘inheritance of blood groups’ in humans?
(I) Dominance (II) Co-dominance (III) Multiple dominance (IV) Incomplete dominance (V) Polygenic inheritance

52 A man with blood group ‘A’ marries a woman with blood ‘B’. What are all possible blood groups
of their offsprings?
A) A, B and AB only B) A, B, AB and O C) O only D) A and B only

53. The genotypes of a husband and wife are IAIB and IAi. Among the blood types of their children, how many
different genotypes and phenotypes are possible?
A) 3 genotypes: 4 phenotypes
B) 4 genotypes: 3 phenotypes
C) 4 genotypes: 4 phenotypes
D) 3 genotypes: 3 phenotypes

54. Multi alleles are present

A) at different loci on the same chromosome
B) at the same locus of the chromosome
C) on non-sister chromatids
D) on different chromosome
55. Match Column-I with Column-II and choose the correct answer from the codes given below.

56. ABO blood grouping is a good example of

A) incomplete dominance B) mutation C) multiple alleles D) pleiotropy
57. Sometimes a single gene product may produce more than one effect. This phenomenon is known as
A) mosaicism B) pleiotropy C) multiple allelism D) polygeny

58. Starch synthesis in pea seeds is an example of

A) multiple allelism B) incomplete dominance C) co-dominance D) pleiotropy
59. Pea seeds having Bb genotype produce starch grains of
A) large size B) small size C) intermediate size D) they do not produce starch.

60. Choose the incorrect statement from the following about pleiotropy.
A) In pleiotropy, a single gene produces more than one effect.
B) Starch synthesis in pea seeds is controlled by one gene.
C) Pea seeds having BB genotypes, produce small starch grains.
D) bb homozygotes of pea produce wrinkled seeds.
61. Assertion: The law of dominance is used to explain the expression of only one of the
parental characters in a monohybrid cross.
Reason: It also explains the proportion of 3: 1 obtained at F2 generation.
A) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
B) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not correct explanation of assertion.
C) Assertion is true, but reason is false.
D) Both assertion and reason are false.
62. Assertion: The pink flower of dog plant show incomplete dominance.
Reason: In pink flowers, both alleles are expressed equally.
A) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
B) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not correct explanation of assertion.
C) Assertion is true, but reason is false.
D) Both assertion and reason are false.
63. Assertion: A person having IAIB genotype has AB blood group.
Reason: IA and IB alleles are co-dominant
A) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
B) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not correct explanation of assertion.
C) Assertion is true, but reason is false.
D) Both assertion and reason are false.

64. Crosses that are performed to study two contrasting characters at a time are called
A) monohybrid cross B) dihybrid cross C) test cross D) back cross

65. The phenotypic ratio obtained by Mendel in his dihybrid cross was
A) 1 : 2 : 1 : 2 B) 3 : 2 : 2 : 1 C) 9 : 3 : 3 : 1 D) 2 : 3 : 1 : 2
66. The third law of inheritance proposed by Mendel is
A) Law of dominance B) Law of independent assortment
C) Law of incomplete dominance D) Law of segregation
67. The ratio 9: 3: 3: 1 of a dihybrid cross denotes that
A) it is a multigenic inheritance.
B) the alleles of two genes are interacting with each other.
C) it is a case of multiple allelism.
D) the alleles of two genes are segregating independently.
68. The numbers of phenotypes and genotypes in F2 generation of a Mendelian dihybrid cross are
A) phenotypes 4: genotypes 16
B) phenotypes 4: genotypes 8
C) phenotypes 9: genotypes 4
D) phenotypes 4: genotypes 9
69. Mendel’s law of independent assortment is true for the genes situated on the
A) same chromosome B) non-homologous chromosomes
C) homologous chromosomes D) extra nuclear genetic element
70. Genes A and B are linked. The F1 heterozygote of a dihybrid cross involving these genes is crossed with
homozygous recessive parental type (aabb). What would be the ratio of offspring in the next generation?
A) 1: 1 B) 1: 1: 1: 1 C) 9: 3: 3: 1 D) 3: 1
71. Mendel’s work remained unrecognized for many years. Find out the true reason for the same.
(I) Mendel’s concept of genes was not accepted by his contemporaries as an explanation for the
continuous variation seen in nature.
(II) The approach of using mathematics was new and unacceptable by other biologists.
(III) He could not provide any physical proof for the existence of factors.
(IV) Communication was not easy in those days and his work could not be widely published.
A) I and II B) II and III C) III and IV D) All of these
72. Mendel’s results on the inheritance of characters were rediscovered by:
A) de Vries B) Correns C) von Tschermak D) all of these
73. Among the following, who noted that the behaviour of chromosomes was parallel to the behavior of genes?
A) Walter Sutton B) Theodore Boveri C) Von Tschermak D) Both (A) and (B)
74. Refer to the given figure showing meiosis and germ cell formation in a cell with four chromosomes.
Which law of Mendel can be effectively explained by this figure?

A) Law of dominance
B) Law of segregation
C) Law of independent assortment
D) All of these

75. The chromosomal theory of inheritance was proposed by

A) Sutton B) Boveri C) Morgan D) Both (A) and (B)
76. Match Column-I with Column-II and choose the correct option from the codes given below.
77. Morgan performed his experiments on
A) Garden pea B) Drosophila C) Snapdragon D) None of these

78. When two genes are located on the same chromosome, the proportion of parental gene combination is
A) higher than non-parental B) lower than non-parental C) equal to non-parental D) None of these

79. Genes which are present on the same chromosome

A) do not form any linkage group.
B) affect the phenotype by forming interactive groups.
C) form a linkage group.
D) form different groups depending upon their relative distance.
80. The term used to describe the generation of nonparental gene combination is
A) linkage B) recombination C) mutation D) none of these

81. Which type of relationship is found between the distance of genes and percentage of recombination?
A) Inverse B) Parallel C) Direct D) None of these

82. Among the following which will not cause variations among siblings?
A) Linkage B) Independent assortment of genes C) Crossing over D) Mutation

83. Match Column-I with Column-II and choose the correct answer from the codes given below.

84. What map unit (centimorgan) is adopted in the construction of genetic maps?
A) A unit distance between two expressed genes, representing 10% cross over.
B) A unit distance between two expressed genes, representing 100% cross over.
C) A unit distance between genes on chromosomes, representing 1% cross over.
D) A unit distance between genes on chromosomes, representing 50% cross over.
85. The concept of genetic map was given by
A) de Vries B) Morgan C) Sturtevant D) Mendel

86. Assertion: Mendel proposed the law of independent assortment on the basis of results of dihybrid cross.
Reason: When two pairs of traits are combined in a hybrid, segregation of one pair of characters is independent of
the other pair of characters.
A) Both assertion and reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
B) Both assertion and reason are true but the reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
C) Assertion is true but reason is false.
D) Both assertion and reason are false.

87. Assertion: The chromosomal theory of inheritance was proposed by T. H. Morgan.

Reason: Morgan worked on garden pea plants to give this theory
A) Both assertion and reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
B) Both assertion and reason are true but the reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
C) Assertion is true but reason is false.
D) Both assertion and reason are false.
88. Assertion: Morgan coined the term linkage to describe the physical association of genes on a chromosome.
Reason: Linkage shows more non-parental type combination of genes.
A) Both assertion and reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
B) Both assertion and reason are true but the reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
C) Assertion is true but reason is false.
D) Both assertion and reason are false.
89. X-body was discovered by
A) Mendel B) Morgan C) Henking D) de Vries

90. In XO type of sex determination, who does possess the X chromosome?

A) Female B) Male C) Sometimes female and sometimes male D) None of these
91. X-chromosome is designated as
A) autosome B) sex chromosome C) somatic chromosome D) none of these
92. Which type of sex determination is found in grasshoppers?
A) XX – XY type B) XX – XO type C) ZZ – ZW type D) None of these
93. In a specific taxon of insects, some possess 17 chromosomes while others have 18 chromosomes.
These 17 and 18 chromosomes bearing organisms are
A) All males B) All females
C) Females and males, respectively D) Males and females, respectively
94. In Drosophila, males possess
A) XO chromosomes B) XX chromosomes C) XY chromosomes D) YY chromosomes

95. Match Column-I with Column-II and choose the correct option from the codes given below.

96. XY type of sex determination is found in

A) Drosophila B) humans C) grasshopper D) both (A) and (B)
97. Choose the incorrect statement about XY type of sex determination.
A) Both males and females have same number of chromosomes.
B) The counter part of X chromosome is distinctly smaller and called Y chromosome.
C) Males and females possess different number of autosomes.
D) This type of sex determination is found in Drosophila.
98. Male heterogamety is found in
A) grasshopper B) Drosophila C) humans D) all of these

99. In female heterogamety, females

A) one type of gametes B) two types of gametes C) three types of gametes D) none of these

100. ZZ/ZW type of sex determination is the characteristics feature of

A) platypus B) snails C) peacock D) cockroach