Transposable elements are divided into two categories: Type 1 (retrotransposons), which form RNA intermediates, and type 2 (transposons), which do not form RNA intermediates and directly enter a new site. Transposase proteins regulate the translocation of type 2 transposable elements, which do not require a RNA intermediate.

Codominance occurs when both phenotypes are displayed equally and independently in the phenotype (without blending). This is the case with blood type and the red and white spotted flower. A person with blood type AB expresses proteins that will recognize both type A and type B. The red and white spotted flower equally expresses the two color phenotypes.

The pink flower is an example of incomplete dominance (blended phenotype). Option IV describes a normal dominant-recessive hierarchy, where only one copy of the dominant allele is needed to display the dominant phenotype.

The correct answer is codominance. According to this mode of inheritance, individuals that are heterozygous for a condition express both alleles equally. If the offspring were exhibited incomplete dominance, their phenotype would have been a red-green blend because the heterozygous condition is a blend of both alleles. Complete dominance occurs when the heterozygous condition exhibits the same phenotype as the homozygous dominant. In epistasis, the expression of one gene is dependent on the expression of a second, which is a form of inheritance that does not apply to this question. Finally, a polygenic trait is a trait that is conferred by multiple genes, a situation for which we know is not the case in this question.

If this were a Mendelian trait, we would expect a 9:3:3:1 ratio of offspring coat color. However, the results show a 9:4:3 ratio. Epistatic interaction between genes can be identified by one gene masking the phenotype of another gene. In this case, the double homozygote phenotype was masked by the red coat color phenotype (4 offspring, instead of seeing 3 red offspring). This suggests that the two coat color genes are epistatic.

Since A and B can be expressed at the same time on a red blood cell, we can say that A and B are codominant to one another. On the other hand, this cannot be said for the O allele. If a person has an A allele and an O allele, that person will have type A blood. Both A and B are dominant over O. As a result, we also see complete dominance take place with blood types. To help solidify this concept, added below is a genotype/phentoype comparison:

A/A = A blood

A/O = A blood

O/O = O blood

B/B = B blood

B/O = B blood

A/B = AB blood

The correct answer is epistasis. Complete dominance, codominance, and incomplete dominance describe the expression of only one gene (one set of alleles) that do not depend on the expression of other genes. Gene masking is not a phenomenon in genetics.