Question

Use the information from the Punnett square to answer the second question.

In this cross between two heterozygous pea plants, what are the chances that an offspring with red flowers will be produced?

Answer 1

When crossing two heterozygous (Bb) pea plants, the chances of producing an offspring with red flowers, if red is recessive, is 25% or 1 in 4, as indicated by the one homozygous recessive (bb) outcome in a Punnett square.

Step-by-step explanation:

Based on the provided Punnett square information, where we have a cross between two heterozygous (Bb) pea plants, the chances that an offspring with red flowers will be produced depend on the inheritance pattern of the flower color trait. Assuming that red flowers are represented by a recessive allele (b) and purple flowers by a dominant allele (B), the Punnett square would look like this:

• BB (Homozygous dominant)
• Bb (Heterozygous)
• Bb (Heterozygous)
• bb (Homozygous recessive)

In this scenario, only the homozygous recessive (bb) would result in red flowers. Since there is one bb combination out of four possibilities, the chances of producing an offspring with red flowers is 25% or 1 in 4. The other three combinations (BB, Bb, Bb) represent the purple flower phenotype.