Question

Explain incomplete dominance, using snapdragon flowers as an example.

Answer 1

Answer:

Dominant allele does not completely conceal recessive allele.

Snapdragon with genotype Rr (R being red and r being white), would have a phenotype of pink flowers.

Explanation:

Incomplete dominance is where a dominant allele is not able to completely conceal a recessive allele, usually leading to a phenotype which appears to be a combination of the two.

For example, in snapdragons:

The allele for red flowers (R) is dominant over the allele for white flowers (r). Let's say a snapdragon flower had the genotype Rr, one allele for red flowers and one for white. In the case of 'normal' dominance the dominant red flower allele (R) would mask the effects of the recessive white flower allele (r), resulting in the phenotype (outward observable characteristics) of having red flowers.

However here in the case of incomplete dominance, the dominant allele would not be able to fully cover up the effects of the white flower allele, meaning that both colors (red and white) are expressed in the phenotype, resulting in pink flowers.

Hope this helped!