In a Mendelian dihybrid cross, a true-breeding pea plant with inflated green pods is crossed with a true-breeding plant having constricted yellow pods. The F₁ offspring are then self-pollinated. Assuming the genes for these two characters assort independently, what proportion of the F₂ progeny will possess inflated yellow pods?

Step-by-step solution

In pea plants, inflated pod shape is dominant over constricted pod shape, and green pod color is dominant over yellow pod color. Let the alleles for pod shape be I (inflated) and i (constricted), and for pod color be G (green) and g (yellow). The true-breeding parents are IIGG (inflated green) and iigg (constricted yellow). The F₁ offspring will all be heterozygous IiGg , exhibiting the inflated green phenotype. When the F₁ generation is self-pollinated ( IiGg IiGg ), the F₂ progeny will show a standard dihybrid ph