Question

Endosperm cell of an angiosperm has 24 chromosomes. The number of chromosomes in the zygote and gametes would be____ and ___ respectively.

• A. 24 and 12
• B. 24 and 8
• C. 16 and 8
• D. 16 and 12

Answer 1

The correct option is C 16 and 8

The ploidy of endosperm is 3n. Since the endosperm has 24 chromosomes i.e 3n = 24.
The ploidy of the gametes is n. Then the chromosomes in gametes will be 8.
The ploidy of zygote is 2n. So no. of chromosomes will be 2$\times$8= 16
$\underset{\text{(n)}}{\text{Male gamete}}+\underset{\text{(n)}}{\text{Female gamete}}\stackrel{\text{Fertilization}}{\to }\underset{\text{(2n)}}{\text{Zygote}}$
$\underset{\text{(n)}}{\text{Male gamete}}+\underset{\text{(n+n)}}{\text{central cell with 2 polar nuclei}}\stackrel{\text{Triple fusion}}{\to }\text{Endosperm}$