What is a cross involving one pair of contrasting characters exhibited by homozygous parents called?

A cross involving one pair of contrasting characters exhibited by homozygous parents is called a monohybrid cross. In this type of cross, each parent organism is homozygous for a particular trait, meaning they carry two identical alleles for that trait. This allows for the examination of the inheritance pattern of a single characteristic. When these homozygous parents are crossed, the resulting offspring exhibit a predictable ratio of phenotypes, which is best exemplified by Mendel’s classic pea plant experiments focusing on traits such as seed shape or flower color.

In contrast, other types of crosses mentioned focus on different scenarios. A dihybrid cross involves two pairs of contrasting characters and explores the inheritance of multiple traits simultaneously. A test cross is designed to determine the genotype of an individual exhibiting a dominant phenotype by crossing it with a homozygous recessive individual, while a back cross involves breeding an offspring with one of its parents or an individual genetically similar to its parent, typically to achieve a desired genotype in the offspring.