If T represents the allele for tall pea plants and t represents the allele for short pea plants, what is the phenotype of each parent and of the offspring?
To determine the phenotype of each parent and the offspring in this scenario, we need to understand the principles of Mendelian genetics. Mendel's laws explain how traits are inherited from parents to offspring.
In this case, the capital letter "T" represents the dominant allele for tall pea plants, while the lowercase letter "t" represents the recessive allele for short pea plants.
Let's consider two parents: Parent 1 and Parent 2.
Parent 1: Genotype (allele combination) can be represented as Tt.
Parent 2: Genotype (allele combination) can also be represented as Tt.
To figure out the phenotypes of the parents, we need to determine whether the tall allele (T) or the short allele (t) is expressed in the genetic makeup.
In Mendelian genetics, the dominant allele (T) is always expressed when present in the genotype, while the recessive allele (t) is only expressed when there are two copies (tt) or no copies (Tt) of the dominant allele.
Since Parent 1 and Parent 2 both have at least one copy of the tall allele (T), their phenotypes will be tall pea plants.
Now, let's consider the possible phenotypes of the offspring. Based on the genotype of the parents (Tt × Tt), we can use a Punnett square to determine the possible allele combinations and corresponding phenotypes.
T t
-----------------
T | TT Tt
t | Tt tt
From the Punnett square, we can see that there are three possible genotypes for the offspring: TT, Tt, and tt.
The genotype TT represents two copies of the dominant allele, which results in a phenotype of tall pea plants.
The genotype tt represents two copies of the recessive allele, resulting in a phenotype of short pea plants.
The genotype Tt represents one copy of the dominant allele and one copy of the recessive allele. In this case, the dominant allele (T) is expressed, and the phenotype is tall pea plants. This is because the dominant allele always masks the presence of the recessive allele.
Thus, the phenotypes of the parents are tall pea plants, and the possible phenotypes of the offspring are tall pea plants and short pea plants.