High School

You find a pink geranium in your flowerbed of red geraniums. Seeds from self-fertilization of this plant produce ¼ red plants, ½ pink plants, and ¼ white plants.

When considering the visible phenotype, which explanation is most likely?

Answer :

Final answer:

A pink geranium found among red geraniums, producing ¼ red, ½ pink, and ¼ white offspring through self-fertilization, suggests an Incomplete Dominance pattern of inheritance involving a single gene with two alleles.

Explanation:

When observing a pink geranium among red ones and finding that self-fertilization produces ¼ red, ½ pink, and ¼ white plants, the Incomplete Dominance inheritance pattern is most likely. The flowers' coloration suggests that a single gene with two alleles is in play: one allele for red (R) and one for white (W). Red is not completely dominant over white, which is why the heterozygous genotype (RW) results in pink flowers. Self-fertilization of the pink (RW) flowers reveals the classic 1:2:1 phenotypic ratio consistent with incomplete dominance: 1 RR (red), 2 RW (pink), and 1 WW (white).