Question

the squirting cucumber is diecious. the sexes are determined, not by heteromorphic sex chromosome, but by allele of two genes. the alleles at the two loci govern sexual phenotype as follow: M determines male fertility; m determine female sterility and f determines female fertility. in population of this plant, individual can be made male (approximately 50%) or female (approximately 50%). in addition, a hermaphrodite type is found, but only at very low frequency, the hermaphrodite has male and female organs on the same plant: (i) what must be full genotype of the male plant (ii) what must be the full genotype of the male plant (ii) what is the origin of the rare hermaphrodite?

Answer 1

Answer: The full genotype of a male plant in this population is MMFF. This genotype is determined by the alleles at the two loci that govern sexual phenotype: M (male fertility) and F (female fertility).

The full genotype of a female plant in this population is mmFF. This genotype is determined by the alleles at the two loci that govern sexual phenotype: m (female sterility) and F (female fertility).

The rare hermaphrodite plants in this population are most likely the result of mutations that occurred at one or both of the two loci that govern sexual phenotype. These mutations could have resulted in the expression of both male and female characteristics on the same plant.

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