Answer to Question #231911 in Cell Biology for Xica

Question

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the alternation between fertilization and meiosis in sexually reproducing organism?

Answer 1

The fusion of female gamete (egg cell) and male gamete (sperm) is termed as fertilization.

The male and female gametes are haploid i.e., they have half the number of chromosomes or one set of chromosomes. During the process of fertilization, they fuse together to form a zygote. The zygote is diploid i.e., has two sets of chromosomes.

The alternation of meiosis and fertilization in the life cycle of sexually reproducing organisms maintains the normal chromosome count. During gamete formation, meiosis helps in the reduction of chromosome count into half while during fertilization the gamete with reduced ploidy fuses together and hence restores the diploid chromosome count.

In case alternation between meiosis and fertilization events fail, the organism may become polyploid.