If a horticulturist breeding gardenias succeeds in having a single plant with a particularly desirable set of traits, which of the following would be her most probable and efficient route to establishing a line of such plants?
A) Backtrack through her previous experiments to obtain another plant with the same traits.
B) Breed this plant with another plant with much weaker traits.
C) Clone the plant.
D) Force the plant to self-pollinate to obtain an identical one.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Cloning the plant would be the most efficient way to establish a line of plants with the same desirable traits. This is because cloning allows for the exact replication of the desirable traits without any variation or loss. Backtracking through previous experiments may be time-consuming and not always guaranteed to yield the same results. Breeding with another plant with weaker traits could dilute or eliminate the desirable traits. Self-pollination may not always produce identical offspring, as there may be genetic variation that could alter the desirable traits.

If a Horticulturist Breeding Gardenias Succeeds in Having a Single