Question

Which of the following would you expect, if you compared the genetic makeup of an animal produced by parthenogenesis with its mother?
A. About 100 per cent genetic similarity.
B. About 50 per cent genetic similarity.
C. No genetic similarity.
D. Parthenogenetic animals have no mother.

Answer 1

Hint: Parthenogenesis occurs when a species develops from unfertilized eggs produced by the mother. As a result, the genetic make-up should be completely similar to that of the mother (parthenogenetic animals reproduce by asexual method and develop from an ovum).

Step by step solution:
Parthenogenesis is a natural form of asexual reproduction wherein embryos grow and develop without being fertilized by sperm. Parthenogenesis in animals refers to the formation of an embryo from an unfertilized egg cell.
It is an adaptive strategy for organisms that allows them to reproduce when sexual reproduction is impossible due to environmental factors. Parthenogenesis, which occurs via apomixis, involves the mitotic replication of an egg, resulting in diploid cells that are clones of the parent. Automixis parthenogenesis entails the copy of an egg via meiosis and the transformation of the haploid egg to a diploid cell via chromosome duplication or fusion with a polar body.
Meiosis produces egg cells in automixis. During meiosis, the resulting daughter cells are normally divided unequally during oogenesis (egg cell development).
This asymmetrical cytokinesis produces one large egg cell (oocyte) and several smaller cells known as polar bodies. Polar bodies deteriorate and are not fertilized. The oocyte is haploid until it is fertilized by male sperm and then becomes diploid.
Due to the absence of males in automictic parthenogenesis, the egg cell becomes diploid by fusing with one of the polar bodies or by duplicating its chromosomes and doubling its genetic material.
Genetic recombination occurs because the resulting offspring are produced by meiosis, so these individuals are not real clones of the parent cell.
Therefore, the genetic makeup of animals produced by parthenogenesis will be completely similar to that of their mother.

So, option A is correct.

Note: The most common misconception about clones is that they are genetically identical to the organisms being cloned and thus phenotypically identical to them. To begin, we should emphasize that clones are not genetically identical to the donors of the nuclei. Second, the characteristics of living beings are not solely the result of genes, and even if they share a large portion of their genes, they will not exhibit the same phenotype.