Jul 8, 2015

Biology Module 2 - 2.mitotic and meiotic cell division 2.8 describe how meiosis contributes to heritable variation

2.8 describe how meiosis contributes to heritable variation




  • crossing over  - homologous chromosome pair along their                           length gene  by gene.                                                      - Breaks occur along the                                                      chromosomes and they rejoin trading                                some of their genes
NB crossing over occurs in prophase I



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  • Independent assortment - chromosomes randomly move                                           to separate poles during                                                     meiosis I.                                                                           -  Each gamete will have different combination of chromosomes and contain a mixture from both father and mother

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  • Segregation of sister chromatids in Anaphase - often one chromatid is a mixture of paternal and maternal DNA while other chromatid is not

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  • Random fertilization - each gamete contains a different                                        set of DNA.                                                                         - any male gamete will fuse with any female gamete so each offspring will be genetically different which cause variation