Monohybrid Cross

Monohybrid cross is one where the parents used for hybridization differ in only one pair of contrasting characters or allele. Eg: Take Homozygous / pure TALL (TT) & pure DWARF (tt) plant. The initial plant materials are called parents or P. These are cross pollinated using emasculation and bagging. The seeds obtained are sown and plants so obtained form the F1 or first filial generation.

 All plants of F1 generation are tall, the dwarf character does not appear. The character appearing in F1 generation is DOMINANT and one that is suppressed is RECESSIVE. When plants of F1 generation i.e. Tall hybrids are allowed to self pollinate the F2 generation is predominantly tall with some dwarf plants. Always the ratio of 3 tall to 1 dwarf plant approximately is observed without any exception. On allowing F2 plants to self pollinate dwarf plants produce only dwarfs, 1/3rd of tall plants produce only tall plants and remaining 2/3rd of hybrid tall plants again produce tall and dwarfs in 3:1 ratio.

Di-hybrid Cross
In a dihybrid cross, 2 pairs of alleles or contrasting characters are considered in parents. In his expt., Mendel used cotyledon color and seed shape of pea as 2 pairs of allele He followed the same method as in monohybrid cross of the two parents one was a true breeding dominant (yellow colored cotyledons and round seeds, YYRR) and the other was a true breeding recessive (green colored cotyledons and wrinkle seeds, yyrr).

1). YYRR: Yellow Cotyledons Round Seeds 2). YYrr: Yellow Cotyledons Wrinkled Seeds 3). yyRR: Green Cotyledons Round Seeds 4). rryy: Green Cotyledons Wrinkled Seeds

 This gave an approximate phenotypic ratio of 9:3:3:1, which is know as di-hybrid ratio. These results show that though dominant and recessive alleles were present in same plant in generation P, in F2 they separated independently form new combination of Yyrr and yyRR. Thus, each pair segregate independent of each other resulting in new combinations.