Question

What does a karyotype look like after meiosis?

A. It remains the same as before meiosis.
B. It contains half the number of chromosomes as before meiosis.
C. It contains double the number of chromosomes as before meiosis.
D. It becomes unrecognizable.

Answer 1

After meiosis, a karyotype contains half the number of chromosomes than before, so the correct answer is B. It contains half the number of chromosomes as before meiosis.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks what a karyotype looks like after meiosis. After meiosis, a karyotype contains half the number of chromosomes as before meiosis. If we consider human cells, a parent cell with 46 chromosomes (23 pairs) undergoes meiosis to produce cells that each have 23 chromosomes. These cells are haploid and are typically gametes, such as sperm and egg cells. In meiosis, two rounds of cell division occur without DNA replication in between, which ensures the chromosome number is halved from the original diploid cell.

The correct answer to the question is thus B. It contains half the number of chromosomes as before meiosis. This reduction in chromosome number is necessary because when two haploid gametes combine during fertilization, they restore the diploid number of chromosomes in the resulting zygote.