Meiosis

The reason everyone wears

different shoes
 A few definitions…
• Heredity
– Is the transmission of traits from one
generation to the next
• Variation
– Shows that offspring differ somewhat in
appearance from parents and siblings
• Genetics
– Is the scientific study of heredity and
variation
 Traits: From Parent to Offspring

• Offspring acquire genes from parents

by inheriting chromosomes
• Genes
– Are segments of DNA
– Are located on the chromosomes
– Are the units of heredity

16.1
Asexual Reproduction

• One parent
produces genetically
identical offspring by
mitosis
• Example – bacteria
dividing

16.2
 Sexual Reproduction

• Two parents give

rise to offspring that
have genes
inherited from the
two parents

16.2
 Differing Sexual Life Cycles

16.4
A Karyotype
– Is a microscopic
representation of the
chromosomes in a
cell
 Diploid vs. Haploid

• A diploid cell (somatic cells)

– Has two sets of each chromosome
• n=number of chromosomes
• Diploid cells are 2n (2 x n)
• A haploid cell (sperm and egg cells in humans)
– Has one of each chromosome
• Haploid cells are n

16.3
 Meiosis
• reduces the number
of chromosome sets
from diploid to
haploid Diploid

Haploid
16.5/6
Meiosis I
16.5/6

Meiosis II
 Three Differences
• Synapsis and crossing over

• Tetrads on the metaphase plate

• Separation of homologues
In species that reproduce sexually
– The behavior of chromosomes during
meiosis and fertilization is responsible for
most of the variation that arises each
generation
 In independent assortment
– Each pair of chromosomes sorts its maternal and paternal
homologues into daughter cells independently of the other
pairs
Key

Maternal set of
chromosomes
Possibility 1 Possibility 2
Paternal set of
chromosomes

Two equally probable

arrangements of
chromosomes at
metaphase I

Metaphase II

Daughter
cells
16.8 Combination 1 Combination 2 Combination 3 Combination 4
 Synapsis and
crossing over
– Homologous
chromosomes
physically connect
and exchange
genetic information

16.7/8
 Huge variability…

Independent assortment, crossing over

and random fertilization (any sperm
joining with any egg) is thought to result in
64 trillion diploid combinations

16.8