Question

Let P = purple flowers and p = white, and T = tall plants and t = dwarf. If the upper case letters represent the dominant alleles, what is the phenotype of a plant with the genotype PpTt?

A. purple flowers, tall
B. purple flowers, dwarf
C. white flowers, tall
D. white flowers, dwarf
E. pale purple flowers, intermediate height

Answer 1

A plant with the genotype PpTt has a phenotype of purple flowers and tall stature, due to dominance of the purple flower (P) and tall plant (T) alleles over their respective recessive alleles.

Step-by-step explanation:

The phenotype of a plant with the genotype PpTt is characterized by having purple flowers and being tall. This is due to the fact that the purple flower allele (P) is dominant over the white flower allele (p), and the allele for tall plants (T) is dominant over the allele for dwarf plants (t). As a result, the presence of at least one P and one T allele in the genotype PpTt leads to the expression of the dominant phenotypes.

It is also important to understand that since the dominant alleles mask the recessive ones in a heterozygous state, a plant with a Pp genotype will exhibit purple flowers, as P is dominant. Similarly, a plant with a Tt genotype displays the tall phenotype, with T being the dominant allele. Therefore, despite having one copy of a recessive allele for each trait, the dominant traits are the ones that are expressed in the phenotype of the plant.