Free Plant Breeding and Genetics MCQs with Answers

• A. Hayman
• B. Falconer
• C. Mather
• D. Fisher

Explanation: R. A. Fisher introduced the statistical and biometrical framework used to analyse quantitative genetic variation, including partitioning…

• A. Same sets of females
• B. Few females in a set
• C. Different sets of females
• D. All the aboveTry Prep Courses

Explanation: In a line × tester design, every line from the female set is crossed with the same group of tester males.

• A. Heritability (broad sense)
• B. Co-heritability
• C. Heritability (narrow sense)
• D. Genetic gain

Explanation: Narrow-sense heritability is the proportion of phenotypic variance due specifically to additive genetic variance, written as VA/VP.

• A. Dominance variance
• B. Additive x dominance epistasis
• C. Dominance x dominance epistasis
• D. All the above

Explanation: Specific combining ability reflects non-additive gene action, especially dominance variance and epistatic interactions such as additive ×…

• A. All the above
• B. Phenotypic covanance
• C. Genotypic convanance
• D. Environmental covanance

Explanation: Covariance analysis can partition observed phenotypic covariance into genetic and environmental covariance components, just as variance…

• A. Jinks (1968)
• B. Lemer (1954)
• C. Warner (1952)
• D. Freeman (1971)

Explanation: The term genetic homeostasis was coined by O. H. Lerner in 1954 to describe the ability of a population or genotype to maintain a stable…

• A. Yates (1947)
• B. Hazel (1943)
• C. Mather (1943)
• D. Griffing (1956)

Explanation: Kenneth Mather coined the term polygenes in 1943 for multiple genes with small, cumulative effects that control quantitative traits.

• A. Genetic advance
• B. Genetic gain
• C. Heritability
• D. Coheritability

Explanation: Genetic advance is the improvement in the mean value of progeny from selected plants compared with the original parental population.

• A. Griffing (1965)
• B. Hayman (1958)
• C. Jink (1950)
• D. Kempthome (1957)

Explanation: Generation mean analysis was developed by Hayman in 1958 to partition gene effects such as additive, dominance and epistatic effects from…

• A. Hays (1919)
• B. Hull (1950)
• C. Hull (1945)
• D. Garber (1955)

Explanation: Hull coined the term recurrent selection in 1945 for repeated cycles of selection and recombination.

• A. Richy (1927)
• B. Stadler (1944)
• C. Hull (1945)
• D. East (1920)

Explanation: Stadler is credited in plant-breeding references with proposing genetic selection in 1944.

• A. Bulk
• B. Disruptive
• C. Backcross
• D. Pedigree

Explanation: Backcrossing is most effective for transferring one or a few oligogenic traits into an adapted variety while recovering the recurrent…

• A. Allard (91400
• B. Falconer (1960)
• C. Vilomorin (1980)
• D. Harrington (1973)

Explanation: The mass pedigree method is attributed to Harrington and combines early-generation bulk handling with later pedigree selection.

• A. All the above
• B. Multi lines
• C. Synthetic
• D. Composites

Explanation: Composites, multilines and synthetic varieties all contain genetically different components, so they are heterogeneous populations.

• A. Falconer (1960)
• B. Jensen (1952)
• C. Goulden (1939)
• D. Johannsen (1903)

Explanation: Jensen developed the multiline variety concept in 1952 by combining several near-isogenic lines carrying different resistance genes.

• A. Gene sequencing
• B. Micro cloning
• C. Gene splicing
• D. Gene cloning

Explanation: Gene cloning means producing many identical copies of a particular gene or DNA sequence, usually by inserting it into a vector and…

• A. Glebe and Hoffmann (1979)
• B. Guha and Maheshwari (1974)
• C. Sam Norum (1976)
• D. Melchers et al (1978)

Explanation: Melchers and colleagues produced the somatic hybrid pomato by fusing potato and tomato protoplasts in 1978.

• A. Plasma genes
• B. Nuclear genes
• C. Monoalleleic genes
• D. None of the above

Explanation: Cytoplasmic male sterility is controlled by factors in the cytoplasm, especially mitochondrial genes, rather than by nuclear genes alone.

• A. Asexual reproduction
• B. Sexual reproduction
• C. Apomixes
• D. None of the above

Explanation: Amphimixis is reproduction involving the fusion of male and female gametes, so it is sexual reproduction.

• A. Maize
• B. Caster
• C. Colocasia
• D. All the above

Explanation: Maize, castor and colocasia bear male and female flowers on the same plant, which is the definition of monoecy.