Homozygous tall pea plants look the same as heterozygous tall pea plants. Formulate a pollination experiment to identify whether a tall pea plant is homozygous or heterozygous. Explain your answer in 3-5 sentences.(4 points)
To determine whether a tall pea plant is homozygous or heterozygous, we can perform a test cross with a known heterozygous tall plant. Pollinate the tall pea plant in question with pollen from a short pea plant. If the offspring are all tall, then the original tall plant is homozygous for the tall trait. If the offspring are both tall and short in a 3:1 ratio, then the original tall plant is heterozygous. This experiment allows us to determine the genotype of the tall pea plant based on the phenotype of its offspring.
