A horticulturist plans to self a plant,then (individually)self each of the F₁ plants,and repeat the same procedure until he obtains a plant that is heterozygous at no more than one gene.If the parental plant has 15,000 genes and is heterozygous for all of them,how many generations will this process take? (For the purposes of this question,count the parental plant as "1 generation.")

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

If the parental plant is heterozygous for all of its 15,000 genes, then it has 7,500 pairs of heterozygous genes. With each selfing generation, the number of heterozygous genes is reduced by half, so it will take 7,500 generations for the plant to become homozygous at all genes through selfing. However, the question asks for a plant that is heterozygous at no more than one gene after selfing. This means that we can continue to self the plants until we obtain one that is heterozygous at one gene. Each selfing generation reduces the number of heterozygous genes by half, so it will take 7,501 generations to obtain a plant that is heterozygous at one gene. Therefore, the total number of generations needed is 7,500 + 7,501 = 15,001, which is closest to option B, 15 generations.

A Horticulturist Plans to Self a Plant,then (Individually)self Each of the F1

A Horticulturist Plans to Self a Plant,then (Individually)self Each of the F₁