Question

After meiosis-II daughter cells differ from the parent cells and each other in their genotypes. This can occur because of which one of the following mechanisms?

• A. Only synapsis
• B. Only crossing over and independent assortment of chromosomes
• C. Only crossing over and chromosomal segregation
• D. Crossing over, independent assortment and segregation and chromosomes

Answer 1

The correct option is D Crossing over, independent assortment and segregation and chromosomes

According to Mendel's law of segregation, there is segregation of alleles and only one allele enters the resulting offspring. According to the law of independent assortment, the alleles assort independently. The process of synapsis results in the mixing of maternal and paternal genes. Synapsis is followed by the separation of the homologous chromosomes during anaphase I resulting in allelic segregation. Crossing over and the random separation of chromosomes lead to independent assortment. Thus the correct answer is option D.