6.1 Chapter Objectives
Learning Objectives
In this chapter, we’ll discuss, broadly, two types of cell division—mitosis and meiosis. Specifically, we’ll emphasize meiosis, and how meiosis is responsible for generating much of the diversity that we associate with sexual reproduction. Our primary goal is for you to understand how meiosis generates genetic diversity, and how the cells that result—sperm and eggs—combine to create unique individuals in the next generation.
By the end of your reading and our in-class discussions, you should be able to:
- Define the following terms
- Mitosis
- Meiosis
- Gamete
- Zygote
- Fertilization
- Haploid
- Diploid
- Homologous pair
- Chromatid pair
- Tetrad
- Crossing over
- Recombination
- Independent assortment
- Prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, cytokinesis
- Meiosis I and Meiosis II
- Outcrossing
- Genotype
- Phenotype
- Recessive
- Dominant
- Mutation
- Homozygous
- Heterozygous
- Punnett square
- Sex-linked inheritance
- Monoallelic inheritance
- Compare the processes of mitosis and meiosis
- Describe the progeny cells from both mitosis and meiosis, especially relative to the original cell
- Describe how meiosis generates genetic diversity via independent assortment and crossing over
- Use Punnett squares to predict inheritance probabilities for single-gene traits, including sex-linked traits
- Differentiate between the inheritance patterns of recessive and dominant alleles
Content on this page was originally published in The Evolution and Biology of Sex by Sehoya Cotner & Deena Wassenberg and is reproduced here in compliance with the original CC-BY-NC 4.0 license.
