A woman buys a packet of seeds for red flowering plants. In the spring, she plants the seeds in her garden and enjoys beautiful red flowers all summer. The flowers are self-pollinating, and many of the flowers produce seeds. The woman collects these seeds and plants them in her garden the following spring. She is surprised when about one-fourth of these plants produce white flowers while the other three-fourths produce red flowers. Assuming that the seeds were all produced by self-pollination of the parental generation, which statement best explains the reason for the woman’s observations?
A. Temperatures were above average in the garden, causing only red flowers to be produced in the first year and both white and red flowers in the second year.
B. Some of the seeds were exposed to conditions that caused a change in the plant’s genes, leading to the production of white flowers instead of red flowers in plants grown from these seeds.
C. Both the white and red flower traits were present in the parental generation, but only the red trait was expressed in this generation, while both traits were expressed in the next generation.
D. Offspring acquired new genes during the crosses taking place between plants in the parental generation, and one of these genes codes for the white flowering trait.
E. Plants producing white flowers in the second generation did not receive the same essential nutrients from the soil needed to produce red flowers.