Question

If an organism is a diploid (or 2n) with 16 chromosomes, then how many chromosomes its sperm cells or egg cells will contain?
A. 8
B. 16
C. 32
D. 64

Answer 1

The sperm cells are produced by spermatogenesis and the egg cells are produced by oogenesis. Both the cells undergo meiosis cell division to produce sperm and ovum.

Complete answer: As meiosis is known as reductional division, the sperm and the egg cell has half the number of chromosomes than that of its parent cells.
The organism is diploid and it has 16 chromosomes.
2n = 16, n is the haploid number of chromosomes.
2n = 16, it means n = 8.
The haploid number of chromosomes is 8.
The sperm and egg cells have a haploid number of chromosomes.
Thus, it will have 8 chromosomes in their cell.

Hence, the correct answer to this question is option A. 8.

Note: Chromosomes are thread-like structures that are located inside the nucleus of eukaryotic cells – plants and animals. The chromosome is made of a protein and a single molecule of DNA. The chromosomes carry genetic information from parents to offspring.
The DNA that is present in the chromosome contains some specific instructions that make a living individual unique.