Question

Which of the following statements is an example of independent assortment?

A.)A pea plant may have one allele for violet flowers and one allele for white flowers.
B.)A tall pea plant will have the same ratio of yellow and green pods as a dwarf pea plant.
C.)Some genetic traits are more likely to be inherited than others.
D.) A diploid individual passes only one copy of a gene on to her offspring.

Answer 1

The statement B) 'A tall pea plant will have the same ratio of yellow and green pods as a dwarf pea plant.' is an example of independent assortment, which is one of Mendel's principles showing that traits are passed on independently of one another provided they are not linked on the same chromosome.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement that exemplifies independent assortment is: 'A tall pea plant will have the same ratio of yellow and green pods as a dwarf pea plant.' This statement aligns with Mendel's law of independent assortment, which asserts that the inheritance of one trait's allele does not affect the inheritance of another trait's allele.

Mendel's principle was observed in his dihybrid crosses, where he noted that each trait is inherited independently. For instance, in pea plants, the inheritance of pod color occurs independently from the inheritance of plant height. This means that the ratios of different pod colors are expected to be the same, whether the plant is tall or dwarf, provided that the traits are on separate chromosomes or are far enough apart on the same chromosome to allow for independent assortment.

Independent assortment provides diverse combination of alleles during gamete formation, resulting in genetic variety among the offspring.