Final answer:
In cells from the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, there are 8 chromosomes and the number of possible chromosome orientations is 256.
Step-by-step explanation:
In cells from the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, there are four pairs of chromosomes, resulting in a total of 8 chromosomes.
The number of possible chromosome orientations in that cell can be calculated using the formula 2^n, where n is the number of chromosomes per set.
In this case, since there are 8 chromosomes, the number of possible orientations is 2^8 = 256.