Pleiotropy correlations and responses to selection most often exemplify pleiotropy. Pleiotropic traits had been previously recognized in the scientific community but had not been experimented on until Gregor Mendel's 1866 pea plant experiment. Mendel recognized that certain pea plant traits (seed coat color, flower color, and axial spots) seemed to be inherited together; however, their correlation to a single gene has never been proven. The term "pleiotropie" was first coined by Ludwig Plate in his Festschrift, which was published in 1910. He originally defined pleiotropy as occurring when "several characteristics are dependent upon ... [inheritance]; these characteristics will then always appear
Classical genetics as molecular genetics. At the base of classical genetics is the concept of a gene, the hereditary factor tied to a particular simple feature (or character). The set of genes for one or more characters possessed by an individual is the genotype. A diploid individual often has two alleles for the determination of a character. Classical genetics is the part of genetics that is solely about the method in which genetic traits are transmitted via the acts of reproduction. Genetics is, generally, the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity. The process by which characteristics are passed down from parents