The distribution of chromosomes in the meiotic process profoundly affects the distribution of alleles in the organism's genetic make-up. You will note that each haploid meiotic product contains one member of each chromosome pair. That means that each germ cell contains a full complement of the requisite genes for building an organism... although only in a single dose. Two fundamental Mendelian Laws operate in meiosis. Mendel's Law of Segregation and Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment. Both can be demonstrated by examining the diagram on the right. In the upper diagram a cell with one pair of chromosomes is depicted. After meiosis, two different types of daughter cell will be formed. One will contain the genes A & b, the other will contain the genes a & B. This demonstrates Mendel's Law of Segregation. The alleles always separate or segregate from each other in meiosis. (Note that duplications in meiosis will actually produce four cells but only two different types will be found among the four.) In the lower diagram, two pairs of chromosomes are found in the cell. Click on the ACTIVATE button below to separate the alleles.
