Question

in a group of scarlet rosemallow plants, some individuals have red flowers and others have white flowers. in this group, the gene for the flower color trait has two alleles. the allele f is for red flowers, and the allele f is for white flowers. a certain scarlet rosemallow plant from this group has red flowers. this plant has two alleles for red flowers. based on this information, click the blue words to correct any errors in the text. this scarlet rosemallow plants genotype for the flower color trait is red flowers. this scarlet rosemallow plants phenotype for the flower color gene is ff. this scarlet rosemallow plant is heterozygous for the flower color gene.

Explanation:

• Genotype vs Phenotype: Genotype refers to the genetic makeup (\(FF\), \(Ff\), \(ff\)), while phenotype is the observable trait (red or white flowers). So "genotype... is red flowers" is wrong. It should be "genotype... is \(FF\)". And "phenotype... is \(FF\)" is wrong. It should be "phenotype... is red flowers".
• Heterozygous vs Homozygous: Heterozygous means having two different alleles (\(Ff\)), while homozygous means having two of the same alleles (\(FF\) or \(ff\)). Since the plant has two alleles for red flowers (\(FF\)), it is homozygous, not heterozygous. So "heterozygous" is wrong. It should be "homozygous".

Answer:

• Change "genotype" to "phenotype" and "red flowers" to "\(FF\)" in the first sentence.
• Change "phenotype" to "genotype" and "\(FF\)" to "red flowers" in the second sentence.
• Change "heterozygous" to "homozygous" in the third sentence.