Question

Assertion: Mitosis is known as equational division and meiosis is known as reduction division.
Reason: During meiosis, the non-sister chromatids of homologous chromosomes cross-over and exchange genetic information. This step does not occur during mitosis.

• A. Both the assertion and reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion
• B. Both the assertion and reason are true but the reason is not the correct explanation for the assertion
• C. The assertion is true but the reason is false
• D. The assertion is false but the reason is true

Answer 1

The correct option is B Both the assertion and reason are true but the reason is not the correct explanation for the assertion

Mitosis is the type of cell division where a parent cell divides to form two identical daughter cells. Since both the parent and daughter cells have the same number of chromosomes, mitosis is known as equational division.

Meiosis is a type of cell division that occurs in the reproductive cells of sexually reproducing organisms. This reduces the chromosome number by half, resulting in the formation of haploid daughter cells. Since the daughter cells receive only half the number of chromosomes from the parent cell, meiosis is known as reduction division.
One of the characteristic features of meiosis I is that during prophase I, the non-sister chromatids of the homologous chromosomes crossover and exchange genetic information. This leads to recombination of the original genetic material, which is not the reason why meiosis is known as reduction division.