Question

question 8 of 10
two fruit flies that are heterozygous for long wings are crossed. some of their offspring have short wings.
which claim is best supported by this information?
a. mutations caused by environmental factors can result in inheritable genetic variations.
b. inheritable genetic variations can be caused by errors during replication.
c. new combinations of alleles can occur due to lateral gene transfers.
d. offspring inherit new combinations of alleles from two parents due to fertilization.

Explanation:

When two heterozygous (long - winged) fruit flies are crossed, fertilization combines alleles from both parents. This can result in offspring with different allele combinations (like short - winged, if short - wing is recessive). Options A (environmental mutations) and B (replication errors) are not indicated here. Option C (lateral gene transfer) is not relevant to sexual reproduction in fruit flies. Fertilization in sexual reproduction (as in fruit fly cross) leads to new allele combinations in offspring from two parents.

Answer:

D. Offspring inherit new combinations of alleles from two parents due to fertilization.