Final answer:
In Gregor Mendel's monohybrid crosses for seed color in pea plants, the expected proportion of yellow to green seeds was based on the phenotypic ratio of 3:1, predicted by Mendelian genetics. We should expect roughly 75% yellow seeds and 25% green seeds, which would be about 6,017 yellow and 2,006 green seeds, matching Mendel's observed results.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of Gregor Mendel's monohybrid crosses for seed color in pea plants, Mendel discovered that when he crossed purebred yellow and green pea plants, the dominant trait would always appear in the F1 generation, which in this case was yellow. This conforms to the basic principles of Mendelian genetics, where the dominant allele masks the presence of the recessive allele in a heterozygote.
Mendel's observations in F2 generation plants revealed a phenotypic ratio of 3:1, meaning three quarters would exhibit the dominant trait and one quarter the recessive trait. Therefore, in his monohybrid cross, we would expect 75% of the plants to have yellow seeds and 25% to have green seeds. Given that Mendel reported 6,017 yellow seeds and 2,006 green seeds, we should calculate the expected numbers based on the 3:1 ratio on the total number of seeds. The total number of seeds is 8,023 (6,017 + 2,006), and 75% of those are expected to be yellow while 25% are expected to be green.
The expected numbers are:
- Yellow seeds: 75% of 8,023 = 6,017 (approximately)
- Green seeds: 25% of 8,023 = 2,006 (approximately)
Hence, the expected color class for Mendel's monohybrid cross results would be 6,017 yellow and 2,006 green seeds, matching the observed data.