* Dominant Allele: A dominant allele is one that expresses its trait even when paired with a recessive allele. It's represented by a capital letter (e.g., "P").
* Recessive Allele: A recessive allele only expresses its trait when paired with another recessive allele. It's represented by a lowercase letter (e.g., "p").
* P Generation: This is the parental generation.
* F1 Generation: This is the first filial generation, the offspring of the P generation.
* F2 Generation: This is the second filial generation, the offspring of the F1 generation.
Here's how dominance works in pea plants:
1. P Generation: You start with two parent plants. One might be homozygous dominant (PP) for a trait like purple flowers, and the other might be homozygous recessive (pp) for white flowers.
2. F1 Generation: When these parents reproduce, all the offspring (F1) inherit one dominant allele (P) and one recessive allele (p). They will all have the genotype Pp, and since "P" is dominant, they will all have purple flowers.
3. F2 Generation: When F1 plants reproduce, they can pass on either their P or p allele. This means some F2 plants will be PP (purple), some will be Pp (purple), and some will be pp (white).
The Key Point: The dominant allele (P) remains the same throughout all generations. It's just that the frequency of dominant and recessive alleles changes as you move from P to F1 to F2.
So, to answer your question more directly: The dominant allele for any specific trait is the same for the P, F1, and F2 generations.
