Essential Genetics 6th Edition by Daniel Hartl

Exercise 6

Below are three graphs showing scatterplots of offspring on midparent values for three different traits in the Colorado Blue Columbine ( Aquilegia caerulea ), the official state flower of Colorado. The midparent value is the average of the parental values. A horticulturalist wishes to increase the value of all these traits because she believes that the resulting flowers would be very successful commercially. However, she needs to produce some impressive flowers quickly if her greenhouse business is not going to fail. As a geneticist, which of these traits would you advise her to concentrate on, and why?