Question

Rabbits are diploid animals. Kevin has a pet rabbit that is homozygous for a gene called hoppy. This means that:

A) the hoppy gene is haplosufficient.
B) the rabbit carries only one copy of the hoppy gene.
C) the rabbit displays a mutant phenotype.
D) the rabbit carries two copies of the hoppy gene, and the two copies have identical DNA sequences.
E) the rabbit carries two copies of the hoppy gene, and the two copies do not have identical DNA sequences

Answer 1

A homozygous rabbit for a gene means it has two identical copies of that gene, which in this case is the 'hoppy' gene. Therefore, the answer is D) The rabbit carries two copies of the hoppy gene with identical DNA sequences.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a pet rabbit is described as homozygous for a gene, this means that it has two identical alleles for that gene. Given the gene is referred to as 'hoppy', the correct interpretation is that the rabbit carries two identical copies of this gene. Therefore, the correct answer to the student's question is D) the rabbit carries two copies of the hoppy gene, and the two copies have identical DNA sequences. In diploid organisms like rabbits, being homozygous indicates that the two alleles present on their homologous chromosomes are the same.