Question
During an experiment, a scientist crosses a pea plant that has purple flowers with a pea plant that has white flowers. The plants that result from this cross in the F1 generation have both purple and white flowers. What can the scientist conclude?
White flowers are dominant over purple flowers.
Neither purple flowers nor white flowers are dominant.
The plants in the P generation were not true-breeding.
All the plants in the F2 generation will have purple flowers.
White flowers are dominant over purple flowers.
Neither purple flowers nor white flowers are dominant.
The plants in the P generation were not true-breeding.
All the plants in the F2 generation will have purple flowers.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
Based on the information provided, the appropriate conclusion the scientist can draw is:
**Neither purple flowers nor white flowers are dominant.**
This conclusion is supported by the observation that the F1 generation plants exhibit both purple and white flowers, which indicates that the two flower traits are co-dominant or that neither is completely dominant over the other. If one color were dominant, then all F1 offspring would display the dominant trait, which is not the case here.
The other options can be evaluated as follows:
- **White flowers are dominant over purple flowers:** This is incorrect, as it would result in all F1 plants displaying only white flowers if white were dominant.
- **The plants in the P generation were not true-breeding:** This might be true, but it cannot be concluded directly from the information provided about the F1 generation having both flower colors.
- **All the plants in the F2 generation will have purple flowers:** This is incorrect, as the presence of both flower colors in F1 suggests that the F2 generation will also likely show a mix of both traits.
Thus, the best conclusion is that neither trait is dominant over the other.
**Neither purple flowers nor white flowers are dominant.**
This conclusion is supported by the observation that the F1 generation plants exhibit both purple and white flowers, which indicates that the two flower traits are co-dominant or that neither is completely dominant over the other. If one color were dominant, then all F1 offspring would display the dominant trait, which is not the case here.
The other options can be evaluated as follows:
- **White flowers are dominant over purple flowers:** This is incorrect, as it would result in all F1 plants displaying only white flowers if white were dominant.
- **The plants in the P generation were not true-breeding:** This might be true, but it cannot be concluded directly from the information provided about the F1 generation having both flower colors.
- **All the plants in the F2 generation will have purple flowers:** This is incorrect, as the presence of both flower colors in F1 suggests that the F2 generation will also likely show a mix of both traits.
Thus, the best conclusion is that neither trait is dominant over the other.