1.
Triploid (3n ) watermelons are produced by crossing a tetraploid (4n ) strain with a diploid (2n ) plant. Briefly explain why this mating produces a triploid individual. Why can mitosis proceed normally in triploid cells, but meiosis cannot?
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2.
Meiosis I is sometimes called a reduction division; meiosis II is sometimes called an equational division. Why?
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3.
Some plant breeders are concerned about the resistance of asexually cultivated plants, like seedless bananas and watermelons, to new disease-causing bacteria, viruses, or fungi. Briefly explain their concern by discussing the differences in the genetic "outcome’’ of asexual and sexual reproduction.
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4.
Explain why nondisjunction leads to trisomy and other types of abnormal chromosome sets. In what sense are these chromosome sets "unbalanced?"
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5.
Examine Figure 9.1, which shows the karyotype of the lubber grasshopper. The researcher drew these chromosomes as they were undergoing meiosis. What event is occurring in the drawing?
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