Final answer:
To identify dominant and recessive alleles in a single gene, perform a cross between two true-breeding individuals and observe the traits of the F1 and F2 offspring. Use of a Punnett Square during a monohybrid cross allows prediction of outcomes.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine which allele is dominant and which is recessive when dealing with a single gene that influences a character such as flower color, you can perform a cross between two true-breeding individuals and observe the trait expressed by the F1 individuals.
For example, if you were to cross true-breeding pea plants with yellow seeds (YY) with true-breeding pea plants with green seeds (yy), all F1 offspring would have yellow seeds, indicating that yellow is the dominant allele.
By conducting a Punnett Square for the monohybrid cross, you can predict the genotypic and phenotypic ratios of the offspring. Heterozygous individuals (Yy) will display the dominant phenotype.
If you then cross the F1 individuals (Yy) among themselves to produce F2 offspring, you can observe the reappearance of the recessive trait, green seeds, which confirms the recessiveness of the green allele.