33. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has four pairs of chromosomes, whereas

Question

33. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has four pairs of chromosomes, whereas the house fly Musca domestica has six pairs of chromosomes. In which species would you expect to see more genetic variation among the progeny of a cross? How many different combinations of chromosomes are possible in the gametes of each species of fly? 41. Female bees are diploid, and male bees are haploid. The haploid males produce sperm and can successfully mate with diploid females. Fertilized eggs develop into females and unfertilized eggs develop into males. How do you think the process of sperm production in male bees differs from sperm production in other animals?

Explanation / Answer

33. The progeny of an individual whose cells have more homologous pairs of chromosomes should be expected to exhibit added variation. The number of different combinations of chromosomes that are possible in the gametes is 2n, where n is equal to the number of homologous pairs of chromosomes.

For the four pairs of chromosomes of fruit fly, the number of possible combinations is 24 = 16. For Musca domestica with six pairs of chromosomes, the number of possible combinations is 26 = 64.

41. In higher animals, most males produce sperm by meiosis. Because meiosis takes place only in diploid cells, haploid male bees do not undergo meiosis. Male bees can produce sperm, but only through mitosis. Haploid cells that divide through mitosis will produce more haploid cells.

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