A pea plant that is heterozygous for the flower gene makes gametes. What is the probability that one of its gametes contains the recessive white allele for flower color?

Options

A. ` 0%`
B. `25%`
C. `50%`
D. `75%`

Answer

To solve the question regarding the probability of a heterozygous pea plant producing a gamete with the recessive white allele for flower color, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Understand the Genotype of the Plant
The plant is heterozygous for the flower color gene. This means its genotype can be represented as "Pp," where "P" is the dominant allele for purple flowers and "p" is the recessive allele for white flowers.

### Step 2: Determine the Possible Gametes
When a plant produces gametes, it can pass on one of its two alleles. For the heterozygous genotype "Pp," the possible gametes are:
- Gamete with the dominant allele (P)
- Gamete with the recessive allele (p)

### Step 3: Calculate the Probability of Each Gamete
Since there are two alleles (P and p), and each allele has an equal chance of being passed on to the gamete, the probability of producing each type of gamete is:
- Probability of gamete with allele P = 1/2
- Probability of gamete with allele p = 1/2

### Step 4: Identify the Probability of the Recessive Allele
The question specifically asks for the probability that one of its gametes contains the recessive white allele (p). From our calculations in Step 3, we found that the probability of producing a gamete with the recessive allele (p) is 1/2.

### Final Answer
Thus, the probability that one of the gametes from the heterozygous pea plant contains the recessive white allele for flower color is **1/2** or **50%**.

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