Suppose a male organism has a diploid chromosome number of 6. These chromosomes could be represented as A, a, B, b, C, and c where uppoer and lower cases (capital and small) of the same letter are homologous to one another. The karyotype (chromosome consititution) of this organism could then be designated as AaBbCc.

a. How would you universally describe a haploid set of chromosomes in this organism in terms of these letters (universal means one description fits all possible cases)?
b. List the eight different combinations of these chromosomes that could possibly be produced by spermatogenesis in this male.

A. The haploid set of n is ABC

B. ABC, ABc, AbC, aBC, abc, abC, aBc, Abc.

Explanation:

A diploid cell is a cell that comprises of two complete sets of chromosomes. This is double the haploid chromosome number. Each pair of chromosomes in a diploid cell is noted to be a homologous chromosome set. A homologous chromosome pair consists of one chromosome donated from one parent and one from the other parent. This number is represented as 2n. It varies in different organisms. A diploid cell replicates via mitosis. It preserves its diploid chromosome number by making an identical copy of its chromosomes and distributing its DNA in an equal manner between two daughter cells.

Haploid refers to a cell that contains a single set of chromosomes. Gametes are made up of half the chromosomes contained in normal diploid cells of the body, these are also known as somatic cells. Haploid gametes are produced during meiosis. Meiosis is a type of cell division that reduces the number of chromosomes in a parent diploid cell by half.

Therefore,

Karyotype of this organism is designated as AaBbCc.

AaBbCc is the diploid set (2n).

Hence ABC or abc are the haploid set (n).

B. The eight different combinations of these chromosomes that could possibly be produced by spermatogenesis in this male are:

ABC, ABc, AbC, aBC, abc, abC, aBc, Abc.