In four o'clock plants, many flower colors are observed. In a cross involving two true-breeding strains, one crimson and the other white, all of the \(F_{1}\) generation were rose color. In the \(F_{2}\) four new phenotypes appeared along with the \(P_{1}\) and \(F_{1}\) parental colors. The following ratio was obtained: Propose an explanation for the inheritance of these flower colors.

We are given a cross between two true-breeding strains, one with crimson flowers and the other with white flowers. All of the F1 generation were rose color. This indicates that there is at least partial dominance of one trait over the other (crimson flower color partially dominates white flower color). In the F2 generation, different phenotypes appeared along with the parental colors. This suggests that there might be a more complex interaction between the genes than simple dominance.

The given ratio in the F2 generation is 1 crimson:4 rose:6 evening:4 pink:1 white. We can match these phenotypes to gene combinations using the law of segregation and the law of independent assortment. It seems that there might be two gene loci that are involved in the determination of flower color. Let's assume the two loci are A and B. The crimson phenotype can be coded as AABB, the white phenotype as aabb. Now we need to find the genotypes for rose, evening, and pink flower colors considering the mixture of alleles.

Based on the given ratio, we can propose an explanation using a hypothesis of gene interactions. We can assume that the color of flowers is determined by the interaction of two independently inherited gene pairs (A and a; B and b). The crimson parent (AABB) and the white parent (aabb) cross, and all the F1 progeny are heterozygous for both gene pairs (AaBb) and produce rose color flowers. Next, the F1 rose plants (AaBb) are allowed to self-pollinate, and the F2 progeny will have the following genotypes and phenotypes: - AABB: 1/16 crimson - AABb, AaBB, AAbb, aaBB: 4/16 rose - AaBb: 6/16 evening - Aabb, aabb, aaBb: 4/16 pink - aabb: 1/16 white The ratio in the F2 generation is 1 crimson: 4 rose: 6 evening: 4 pink: 1 white, as observed in the exercise. Using the principles of Mendelian genetics, we were able to explain the inheritance of flower colors in this cross.