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Multiple Choice
When completing fruit fly crosses to study Mendel's laws, which of the following best explains why the F2 generation often displays a phenotypic ratio of approximately 3:1?
A
Because environmental factors always override genetic inheritance in fruit flies
B
Because all offspring inherit only dominant alleles from both parents
C
Because alleles segregate independently during gamete formation, resulting in dominant and recessive phenotypes in a 3:1 ratio
D
Because the F2 generation is produced by self-fertilization of the P generation
Verified step by step guidance
1
Understand that Mendel's laws describe how alleles (different forms of a gene) are inherited from parents to offspring, particularly focusing on the Law of Segregation.
Recall that during gamete formation (meiosis), alleles for a gene segregate so that each gamete carries only one allele for each gene.
Recognize that when two heterozygous individuals (F1 generation) are crossed, the alleles segregate independently, producing offspring with genotypes in a 1:2:1 ratio (homozygous dominant : heterozygous : homozygous recessive).
Translate these genotypic ratios into phenotypic ratios, where dominant alleles mask recessive ones, resulting in approximately 3 individuals showing the dominant phenotype for every 1 showing the recessive phenotype.
Conclude that the 3:1 phenotypic ratio in the F2 generation arises because of the segregation of alleles during gamete formation and the dominance relationship between alleles, not because of environmental factors or self-fertilization of the P generation.