Question

In sunflowers, tall stems (T) is a dominant trait while short stems (t) is a recessive trait. In a field of 1000 sunflowers, 820 are tall plants and 180 are short. Which statement BEST describes the genotype of the sunflowers in the field? A) About 50% are homozygous for tall stems. B) About 75% are homozygous for tall stems. C) About 50% are homozygous for short stems. D) About 50% are heterozygous for tall stems.

Answer 1

The correct answer is D.)

Answer 2

The most appropriate answer would be option D.

The ratio of plants with a tall stem to plants with a short stem in roughly equals to 3:1, that is, the phenotype ratio is roughly equal to 3:1.

Thus, by Mendelian genetics, the ratio of the genotypes should be roughly equal to 1 (TT): 2 (Tt): 1 (tt).

Hence, about 50 percent of the population should be heterozygous in nature.