Chapter 14, Problem 34ESP

Deep in a previously unexplored South American rain forest, a plant species was discovered with true-breeding varieties whose flowers were pink, rose, orange, or purple. A very astute plant geneticist made a single cross, carried to the F₂ generation, as shown:

Based solely on these data, he proposed both a mode of inheritance for flower pigmentation and a biochemical pathway for the synthesis of these pigments.

Carefully study the data. Create a hypothesis of your own to explain the mode of inheritance. Then propose a biochemical pathway consistent with your hypothesis. How could you test the hypothesis by making other crosses?