A research biologist is studying cells from a new organism recently discovered in the Brazilian rainforest. She determines that the somates contain a total of 10 chromosomes. How many possible combinations of chromosomes could this organism produce as a result of independent assortment

32 possible combination of chromosome

Explanation:

According to the law of independent assortment as proposed by Mendel, alleles of a gene will separate into gamete independently of the alleles of another gene. Since this organism contains 10 chromosomes in its somatic cell, it will undergo meiosis to produce half number of chromosomes in its gametes i.e. 5 chromosomes.

If we know the haploid number of chromosomes of an organism i.e. n, we can calculate the possible combination of chromosomes that will be present in its gametes as a result of independent assortment during meiosis using the formula:

2^n, where n= haploid no. of chromosome

If n is 5 chromosome in this case, the possible combination of chromosome in its gametes will be 2^5 = 32. Hence, as a result of independent assortment, an organism with 10 chromosome in its somatic cell will produce 32 possible combinations of chromosome in its gametes.

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