Final answer:
The pea plant described is called heterozygous because it has two different alleles for height. The dominant allele for tall height masks the effect of the recessive allele for short height. This terminology is crucial in understanding basic genetic principles.
Explanation:
Understanding Plant Genetics
A pea plant with two different alleles for height, such as one for tall (dominant) and one for short (recessive), is described as heterozygous. In genetics, an organism is termed homozygous when it has two identical alleles for a trait, either dominant or recessive.
The different forms of a gene that determine a trait are called alleles. In the case of the pea plant, the tall allele (T) is dominant over the short allele (t). Therefore, the plant's genotype is Tt, indicating the presence of both alleles.
The phenotype refers to the observable characteristics of an organism, in this case, the height of the plant. While the short allele is recessive and will not be expressed if the dominant allele is present, its gene is still part of the plant's genetic makeup.
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