Question

Mendel's law of independent assortment does not hold true for the genes that are located closely on

• A. same chromosome
• B. non-homologous chromosomes
• C. $X$-chromosome
• D. autosomes

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

As per linkage experiments carried out by Morgan, the two linked genes do not always segregate independently of each other and $F_2$ ratio deviated very significantly from $9:3:3:1$ ratio (expected when two genes are independent). Hence, if linkage was known at the time of Mendel, he would not have been able to explain law of independent assortment.