A diploid organism has five pairs of chromosomes in each somatic (body) cell. Assuming that no crossing over occurs, how many genetically distinct gametes can this organism produce?
To determine the number of genetically distinct gametes a diploid organism can produce, we need to use the concept of independent assortment. Independent assortment refers to the random distribution of homologous chromosomes during the formation of gametes.
In this case, the organism has five pairs of chromosomes, meaning it has a total of 10 chromosomes in each somatic cell.
Since independent assortment occurs during gamete formation, each pair of chromosomes can segregate independently of the others. Therefore, the number of genetically distinct gametes is determined by calculating 2 to the power of the number of chromosome pairs.
In this case, there are five pairs of chromosomes, so the calculation would be:
2^5 = 32
Therefore, this organism can produce 32 genetically distinct gametes.