Question

You find and capture several individuals from a new species of rodent. Assume this new species produces sperm and eggs the way humans do. If there were 200 pg of DNA in the primary spermatocyte, how much DNA would be found in the sperm produced by the maturation of this spermatocyte? (Note: picogram (pg) is unit of mass)

Answer 1

During the maturation of a primary spermatocyte, the amount of DNA in the resulting sperm is halved.

Step-by-step explanation:

In spermatogenesis, the process of sperm production, a primary spermatocyte divides to produce four haploid secondary spermatocytes. These secondary spermatocytes then undergo a second meiotic division to produce four spermatids, which mature into sperm. As a result, the amount of DNA in a sperm is half that of a primary spermatocyte. Therefore, if there were 200 pg of DNA in the primary spermatocyte, there would be 100 pg of DNA in the sperm produced by its maturation.