Question

Which of the following statements is not one of Morgan's key ideas about independent assortment?

a. All of these statements are part of Morgan's Theory of Independent Assortment.
b. Crossing-over events during meiosis results in the exchange of genetic information between homologues.
c. Alleles for different genes on the same chromosome are usually inherited together.
d. Linked genes are always inherited together.
e. The closer genes are to each other on the chromosome, the less likely a crossover will

Answer 1

The incorrect statement about Morgan's ideas on independent assortment is that d)linked genes are always inherited together. Morgan found that linked genes can be inherited separately due to crossing over.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement that is not one of Morgan's key ideas about independent assortment is 'd. Linked genes are always inherited together.'

While Thomas Hunt Morgan's work did observe that genes close together on the same chromosome tend to be inherited together, he noted that they are not always inherited together because of the phenomenon of genetic recombination or crossing over during meiosis.

The crossing over process between homologous chromosomes can result in linked genes being inherited separately when genes are far apart on a chromosome.

Hence, it's not correct to say that linked genes are 'always' inherited together. If there is enough distance between them, their recombination frequency in offspring may resemble that of unlinked genes.