Imagine that you self-pollinate heterozygous purple-flowered, long-pollened pea plants and get mostly purple-flowered, long-pollened plants and white-flowered, short-pollened plants, with a few purple-flowered, short-pollened or white-flowered, long-pollened plants. What is the most likely explanation?
A) The genes for flower color and pollen length are linked.
B) The gene for flower color is on a sex chromosome.
C) Long pollen is often lethal, so few plants with long pollen survive to adulthood.
D) The purple allele influences pollen to become shorter.
E) This is a normal random variation from the expected ratio for independent assortment.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The most likely explanation for the observed pattern of inheritance is that the genes for flower color and pollen length are linked, meaning they are located close together on the same chromosome and tend to be inherited together. This linkage disrupts the expected Mendelian ratio for independent assortment, leading to a predominance of parental phenotypes (purple-flowered, long-pollened and white-flowered, short-pollened) and fewer recombinant phenotypes (purple-flowered, short-pollened or white-flowered, long-pollened).

Imagine That You Self-Pollinate Heterozygous Purple-Flowered, Long-Pollened Pea Plants and Get