Final answer:
A recombination frequency of 50% usually means that the genes are located on separate chromosomes or are very far apart on the same chromosome, and thus assort independently like unlinked genes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The most likely explanation for a recombination frequency of 50% is that the genes in question are located on separate chromosomes or they are far apart on the same chromosome, exhibiting independent assortment A recombination frequency of 50% suggests that the genes are acting as if they are unlinked.
Alfred Sturtevant expanded on this concept by creating genetic maps that allowed the distances between genes on the same chromosome to be estimated based on recombination frequencies. However, a frequency of 0.5 indicates that parental and recombinant offspring occur with equal frequency, making it difficult to determine if the genes are on the same chromosome but very distant or truly on separate chromosomes without additional information.