Which type of plant did Gregor Mendel use to study the effects of genetics on characteristics?

Gregor Mendel, often referred to as the father of modern genetics, conducted his pioneering research using pea plants. He chose pea plants specifically because they have several distinct traits that can be clearly observed, such as seed shape, flower color, and pod appearance. These traits can be easily categorized into dominant and recessive forms, allowing Mendel to track how these traits were passed on through generations.

Additionally, pea plants have a relatively short generation time and can self-pollinate or be cross-pollinated, providing Mendel with valuable flexibility in experimenting with plant breeding and inheritance patterns. This combination of observable traits and manageable breeding conditions enabled him to formulate the foundational principles of heredity, including the concepts of dominant and recessive alleles as well as the law of segregation and the law of independent assortment.

The other options, while important crops, do not have the same historical significance in the early studies of genetics as pea plants do.