Question

If in a plant, the dipolid (2n) chromosome number is 24, the number of linkage groups in it shall be

• A. 24
• B. 23
• C. 12
• D. 48

Answer 1

The correct option is C 12

A linkage group is defined as a group consisting of genes present at different loci on a single chromosome. They are inherited together as a unit. The number of linkage groups is the number of chromosomes present in the genome. Since the diploid number is 24, hence the haploid set has 12 chromosomes. In other words, there are 12 pairs of homologous chromosomes.
Since each of the homologous chromosomes carries alleles of the same gene at corresponding loci, there are 12 different types of chromosomes present in the plant. Hence, the number of linkage groups = 12.