In: Biology
What is the probability that Drosophila Melanogaster female has received all the chromosome that her grandmother gave to her father?
A : 0
B : (1/4)^2
C : (1/6)^2
D : (1/2)^4
E : No way to predict.
Please explain your answer thoroughly!
Drosophila is a diploid organism (2n = 8).
The father Drosophila has got n (=4) number of chromosomes from his father and n(=4) number of chromosomes from his mother.
The female Drosophila has got n (=4) number of chromosomes from her father and n(=4) number of chromosomes from her mother.
So, the female Drosophila has got 4 chromosomes from his father and her father has got 4 chromosomes from his mother (grandmother).
For the 1st pair of chromosome, probability of getting the grandmother chromosome is ½.
For the 2nd pair of chromosome, probability of getting the grandmother chromosome is ½ .
For the 3rd pair of chromosome, probability of getting the grandmother chromosome is ½ .
For the 4th pair of chromosome, probability of getting the grandmother chromosome is ½ .
All the above events are not related to each other. So, we will use the multiplication rule of probability.
So, the probability of Drosophila melanogaster female has received all the chromosome that her grandmother gave to her father is ½ * ½ * ½ * ½ = (½ )^4
We did not consider the transfer of sex chromosome. If we consider the sex chromosome transfer, the answer would be different. That calculation is described below:
The last pair of chromosome is sex chromosome. The father has got X chromosome from her mother (grandmother) and passed that X chromosome into his daughter.
So, for the female drosophila, the X chromosome that she has got from his father is actually the X chromosome of her grandmother.
For the sex chromosome, the probability of getting the grandmother chromosome is 1.
All the events are not related to each other. So, we will use the multiplication rule of probability.
So, the probability of Drosophila melanogaster female has received all the chromosome that her grandmother gave to her father is ½ * ½ * ½ * 1 = (½ )^3
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