- Given below are a few statements related to plant breeding and genetics:
A. Non-random mating between individuals closely related to each other would tend to promote a decrease in homozygosity at all loci.
B. Quantitative traits are typically influenced by environmental conditions to a greater extent than qualitative traits.
C. The over dominance theory for explanation of heterosis assumes that in a heterozygote, only one of the alleles plays a functional role.
D. During domestication selected genes/traits show a decrease in diversity.
Which one of the following options represents a combination of all INCORRECT statements?
(1) A and D only (2) B, C and D
(3) A and C only (4) B and D onlyStatement-wise explanation
A. “Non-random mating between individuals closely related to each other would tend to promote a decrease in homozygosity at all loci.” – Incorrect
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Mating between relatives is inbreeding, which leads to increased homozygosity and decreased heterozygosity across the genome.
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So saying it “decreases homozygosity” is the opposite of what actually happens.
B. “Quantitative traits are typically influenced by environmental conditions to a greater extent than qualitative traits.” – Correct
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Quantitative traits (yield, height, biomass) are controlled by many genes and are usually highly environment-sensitive.
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Qualitative traits (simple Mendelian traits like flower color) are much less affected by environment.
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Thus B is a correct generalization.
C. “The over dominance theory for explanation of heterosis assumes that in a heterozygote, only one of the alleles plays a functional role.” – Incorrect
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Overdominance theory proposes that the heterozygote (A a) is superior because the combined effect of both different alleles is better than either homozygote (A A or a a).
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The statement given sounds like complete dominance, where one allele alone is functional; that is not overdominance.
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Therefore C misstates the theory and is incorrect.
D. “During domestication selected genes/traits show a decrease in diversity.” – Correct
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Domestication involves strong directional selection on specific loci (e.g., non‑shattering, large seeds).
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This typically causes selective sweeps, reducing variation around those selected genes compared with wild relatives.
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So D is correct.
Since only A and C are wrong, the combination of all incorrect statements is option (3) A and C only.
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