Final answer:
The statement that 'a merodiploid is a diploid organism that contains another copy of its genome' is false. Merodiploid refers to a bacterial cell with additional gene copies, whereas a diploid organism has two copies of each gene, and polyploidy refers to organisms with more than two sets of chromosomes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term 'merodiploid' is not used to describe a diploid organism that contains another copy of its genome. Instead, a merodiploid refers to a bacterial cell that has one or more additional gene copies on a plasmid, in addition to the normal set of genes on the bacterial chromosome.
This can occur, for example, through the acquisition of a plasmid that carries a duplicate of a gene already present on the chromosome. Therefore, the statement 'a merodiploid is a diploid organism that contains another copy of its genome' is false. In diploids, such as most animals and plants, the term used for an increase in the set of chromosomes is polyploidy.
Aneuploidy, on the other hand, refers to the presence of an abnormal number of chromosomes in a cell, which is not the same as having a whole extra set of chromosomal genetic material. A diploid organism has two copies of each chromosome, one from each parent.
These homologous chromosomes have the same genes at identical locations. When there are more than two sets of chromosomes, such as triploid or tetraploid individuals, these organisms are referred to as polyploid.