Question

A new plant species B forms by autopolyploidy from species A, which has a chromosome number of 2n=10. Assuming that the cell's chromosome number was doubled from the diploid number (2n) to a tetraploid number (4n), how many chromosomes would species B have?

Answer 1

Species B, which forms by autopolyploidy from species A with a diploid number of 2n=10, would have 20 chromosomes (4n=20) due to the doubling of the chromosome number.

Step-by-step explanation:

If species A has a chromosome number of 2n=10, and a new species B forms by autopolyploidy from species A by doubling the diploid number to a tetraploid number (4n), species B would have 20 chromosomes. This doubling occurs because mitosis is not followed by cytokinesis, resulting in a doubling of the chromosome number within the cell. The resulting autopolyploid species B would therefore have 20 chromosomes (4n=20), since it arises from the duplication of the diploid (2n) chromosome number of species A.