Question

Differentiate between law of segregation and law of independent assortment.

Answer 1

Aspect	Law of Segregation	Law of Independent Assortment
Definition	When a pair of alleles are brought together in a hybrid (F1), they remain together without blending but separate completely and purely during gamete formation.	When two pairs of independent alleles are brought together in a hybrid (F1), they show independent dominant effects, and during gamete formation, the alleles assort independently at random and freely.
Experimental Basis	Demonstrated through monohybrid crosses involving a single gene pair.	Demonstrated through dihybrid crosses involving two pairs of contrasting characters simultaneously.
Genetic Ratio Example	F2 generation shows a genotypic ratio of 1:2:1 and phenotypic ratio of 3:1.	F2 generation shows the phenotypic ratio of 9:3:3:1 for four different phenotypes resulting from two gene pairs.
Explanation	Each gamete receives only one allele from the pair; alleles segregate in gametes.	Pairs of alleles for different traits segregate independently of each other during gamete formation.
Limitation	Does not apply to incomplete dominance, codominance, pleiotropy, epistasis, or polygenic traits.	Only applies to genes on different chromosomes or that assort independently; linked genes do not follow this law.