Final answer:
When a homozygous dominant purple, heterozygous starchy corn (DDEe) is crossed with a yellow and sweet corn (ddee), the offspring will be DdEe with a purple and starchy phenotype. In a similar context, a Punnett square analysis in pea plants demonstrates how various genotypes and phenotypes may result from dihybrid crosses, with a need for different sizes of Punnett squares depending on parental genotypes.
Step-by-step explanation:
In corn, purple color (D) is dominant to yellow (d), and starchy texture (E) is dominant to sweet (e). When a homozygous dominant purple kernel and heterozygous starchy corn parent (DDEe) is crossed with a yellow and sweet kernel parent (ddee), we analyze the outcomes using a dihybrid cross. Since the homozygous dominant parent will only produce DE gametes and the yellow sweet parent can only produce de gametes, all offspring will be DdEe, which results in purple and starchy kernels. When using the provided information to explain a Punnett square analysis for pea plants, you can see how variations in flower color and pea color can combine from different parents.
Looking at similar dihybrid crosses in pea plants, a cross between a PpYY and ppYy would result in a mixture of purple and white flowers, all having yellow peas. A Punnett square with 16 squares is needed because each parent can produce four different gametes (PY, Py, pY, py for PpYY and pY, py for ppYy) leading to 2x4=8 combinations. Meanwhile, a cross between PpYY and ppyy would need a 4-square Punnett square.