1. How does crossing-over lead to greater variability of phenotypes. Any examples of this??
2. What differences would you exepct to see in a population made up of individuals whose chromosomes experince crossing-over frequently compared with a population made up of individuals whose chromosomes do not cross over? Why?
2007-01-10 03:27:07 · 1 answers · asked by chillbamf01 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Crossing-over leads to greater variability in a genome because it reduces the genetic linkage between different alleles. In other words, it allows different traits to be passed on to different individuals, instead of individuals always inheriting certain traits together.
With frequent crossing-over, traits appear independent. A blonde woman might have green, blue, or brown eyes. A man with freckles might be a brunet or a redhead. Without crossing-over, traits become closely linked. For example, everyone with red hair would have green eyes and freckles and everyone with black hair would have brown eyes. This requires that the alleles for eye and hair coloration be located on the same chromosome, which may or may not be true; I haven't researched it.
2007-01-10 03:34:01 · answer #1 · answered by DavidK93 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋