A geneticist wants to know whether a plant with dominant phenotype, is heterozygous or homozygous. Which test will he perform?
Test cross is the process of crossing an individual of unknown traits with an individual having homozygous recessive traits.
Case I: If the testing individual is heterozygous then;
50% of offspring are dominant and the other 50% are recessive.
Case II: If the testing individual is homozygous dominant then;
All the offspring will be dominant only.
Back cross: It is a cross in which off-spring produced is crossed by either one of its parents. Test cross is also a type of back cross.
The best test for the allelic composition of an organism would be test cross, as it easily differentiates between heterozygous and homozygous dominant individuals.
Self-fertilization is the process where a bisexual organism produces both male and female gametes and fertilizes them to produce an offspring.
Crossbreeding is the process of reproduction between two unrelated organisms which results in the production of hybrids.