Question

What numbers of chromosomes are present in a gamete as compared to that of a parent cell after meiosis?
A. Twice
B. Three times
C. The same as
D. One-half
E. One-quarter

Answer 1

Hint: Meiosis is a cell division process that divides a diploid parent cell into haploid gametes. The chromosome number becomes half (2n to n).

Complete answer: Meiosis involves two types of cell division: reductional division and equational division. It occurs in the reproductive cell (gametes) and the chromosome number is reduced in them by half.
 In most sexually reproducing organisms meiosis occurs, e.g. unicellular and multicellular eukaryotes such as animals, plants, and fungi.
The diploid parent cell with two copies of each chromosome divides the first and second meiotic division: one round of DNA replication, followed by two different nuclear division cycles.
The four daughter cells are produced that are haploid, containing half numbers of chromosomes.

Additional information: The origin and function of meiosis are currently not well known scientifically and would provide fundamental evidence into the evolution of sexual reproduction in eukaryotes.
There is no current consensus among biologists on the questions of how sex in eukaryotes arose in evolution, what common function sexual reproduction serves, and why it is maintained, given the basic two-fold cost of sex.
 It is now clear that it evolved over 1.2 billion years ago, and that all species which are descendants of the original sexually reproducing species are sexual reproducers, including plants, fungi, and animals.

So, the correct option is D. One-half

Note: In sexual reproduction, male and female parents prepare their gametes, and then by mating processes, two types of gametes fuse together to form a zygote. The zygote then develops into a complete offspring.