Because snapdragons have the pigment anthocyanin, they have reddish-purple petal

Question

Because snapdragons have the pigment anthocyanin, they have reddish-purple petals. Two pure anthocyanin-less lines of snapdragon were developed, one in California and one in Holland. They looked identical having no red pigment at all, manifested as white (albino) flowers. However, when petals from the two lines were ground up together in buffer in the same test tube, the solution, which appeared colourless at first, gradually turned red.

a) What could account for the production of the red colour in the test tube? (2 marks)

b) What F1 phenotype would you expect if you crossed the white snapdragon from California with the one from Holland? (1 mark)

c) Assign allele symbols and genotypes for the P and F1 generations. (1 mark)

d) What phenotype(s) and genotype(s) would you expect in the F2 generation if you self-fertilized the F1? (1 mark)

Explanation / Answer

a)

The reason is that the red colour is formed by the action of at least two different gene products. When petals of the two plants were ground together, the different defective enzyme of each plant was complemented by the normal enzyme of the other.

b)

The F1 phenotype would be reddish Purple color (pink) colour

c)

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