A plant cell has 16 bivalents at prophase I of meiosis. How many chromosomes and chromatids will be present in each gamete of this plant respectively ?

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8 chromosomes, 8 chromatids

16 chromosomes, 12 chromatids

16 chromosomes, 16 chromatids

16 chromosomes, 32 chromatids

answer is C.

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Detailed Solution

If the plant cell has 16 bivalents at prophase I of meiosis, it means there are 16 pairs of homologous chromosomes. In total, there are 32 chromosomes (16 pairs) present in the cell at prophase I.

During meiosis, each pair of homologous chromosomes separates, resulting in the formation of haploid gametes. So, after meiosis, each gamete will contain half the number of chromosomes as the original cell.

Therefore, in each gamete:
Number of chromosomes = 32 chromosomes / 2 = 16 chromosomes
So, if each chromosome has one chromatid after meiosis I, then each gamete would contain 16 chromosomes, each with one chromatid.

Therefore, in each gamete:
Number of chromosomes = 16 chromosomes
Number of chromatids per chromosome = 1

Hence, each gamete of this plant cell will contain 16 chromosomes and 16 chromatids.

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