102k views
1 vote
Can two purple-eyed fruit flies make a red-eyed baby? Explain using the following terms in your answer: allele, recessive, dominant.

User Deanmv
by
8.0k points

1 Answer

4 votes

Answer:

simple answer, no.

Step-by-step explanation:

No, two purple-eyed fruit flies cannot make a red-eyed baby because the trait for red eyes is a recessive allele, meaning it is masked by the dominant allele for purple eyes.

Each organism has two copies of each gene, one from each parent, which are called alleles. In fruit flies, the gene for eye color has two alleles: a dominant allele for purple eyes (P) and a recessive allele for red eyes (p).If both parents have purple eyes, they could have the following genotypes: PP or Pp. Since purple is a dominant trait, the presence of one P allele will result in purple eyes. The other allele could be either P or p, and it wouldn't matter for the phenotype (physical appearance) of the fly.

However, for a red-eyed offspring to be produced, both parents must carry the recessive allele for red eyes (pp). If one parent has the genotype Pp and the other has pp, there is a 50% chance that their offspring will have purple eyes (Pp) and a 50% chance that they will have red eyes (pp).

Therefore, in the case of two purple-eyed fruit flies, they cannot produce a red-eyed baby, as they both have at least one dominant allele for purple eyes, which masks the recessive allele for red eyes.

User Rolige
by
7.8k points