Inheritance of Flower Color Alleles

In the context of genetics, the term 'allele' refers to one of the different forms of a gene that may exist at a specific locus on a chromosome. Organisms typically inherit two alleles for each gene; one from each parent. These alleles can be dominant or recessive. A dominant allele is expressed in the organism's phenotype even if only one copy is present, while a recessive allele is only expressed when two copies are present.

Consider a hypothetical organism where the allele for flower color can either be red (R, dominant) or white (r, recessive). If a plant that is homozygous for red flowers (RR) is crossed with a plant that has white flowers (rr), what percentage of the offspring would express the recessive phenotype?