Question

in a certain type of plant, red flower color is dominant to white flower color. a purebred plant with red flowers was crossed with a purebred plant with white flowers. all the seeds from this cross were collected. one seed was randomly picked from the cross, planted, and allowed to grow under normal conditions. assume that no mutations occurred.
which statement explains the probability that the plant will produce red or white flowers?
a. there is a 75% chance the flowers will be red and a 25% chance of white, because the red trait is dominant to the white trait.
b. the chance of red or white flowers is impossible to predict, because the seed was chosen randomly from all the seeds produced.
c. there is a 50% chance that the flowers will be red and a 50% chance of white, because each parent provides a gene for flower color.
d. there is a 100% chance that the flowers will be red and a 0% chance of white, because each of the seeds received the dominant gene.

Explanation:

Let's assume the allele for red flower color is \( R \) (dominant) and for white flower color is \( r \) (recessive). A purebred red - flowered plant has a genotype \( RR \), and a purebred white - flowered plant has a genotype \( rr \). When \( RR\times rr \), using the Punnett square method (a basic genetic cross - analysis tool), all of the offspring will have the genotype \( Rr \). Since the red allele \( R \) is dominant over the white allele \( r \), a plant with genotype \( Rr \) will express the red - flower phenotype.

Answer:

D. There is a 100% chance that the flowers will be red and a 0% chance of white, because each of the seeds received the dominant gene.