Polyploid plants are not uncommon in nature, while polyploid animals are extreme
ID: 48341 • Letter: P
Question
Polyploid plants are not uncommon in nature, while polyploid animals are extremely rare. However, there are a few types of polyploid animals. For example, there is a tetraploid species of rat that lives in Argentina.
a. What does a polyploida mean, and what does a tetraploida mean with regards to the total number of chromosomes in this type of rat?
b. How would a tetraploid rat be different than a typical diploid rat?
c. Explain the process of gamete formation in rats and how it may have contributed to tetraploid strains of the species. Be sure to include a thorough explanation of meiosis as part of your answer
Explanation / Answer
a. Polyploida is having abnormal number of homologous chromosomes in somatic cells. Total number of chromsomes present in tetraploida rat is 4n.
b. A tetraploid rat caontains 4n chromosomes, while a diploid rat contains 2n chromosomes.
c. rat is a mammal, the process of gamete formastion in rats is similar to humans. The reproductive cells (diploid, 2n) undergo cell division to produce cells with haploid (n) number of chromosomes (sperm and ovum) and this is called