Dr. Ara B. Dopsis has an idea he thinks will be a boon to agriculture. He wants to create the 'pomato,' a hybrid between a tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) that has 12 chromosomes and a potato (Solanum tuberosum) that has 48 chromosomes. Dr. Dopsis is hoping his new pomato will have tuber growth like a potato and the fruit production of a tomato. He joins a haploid gamete from each species to form a hybrid and then induces doubling of chromosome number. How many chromosomes will the hybrid have before chromosome doubling?

Key Concepts

Chromosome Number

Chromosome number refers to the total count of chromosomes in a cell. In this case, the tomato has 12 chromosomes, and the potato has 48 chromosomes. When creating a hybrid, the chromosome number is typically the sum of the two parent species' chromosomes, which is crucial for understanding the genetic makeup of the resulting hybrid.

Hybridization

Hybridization is the process of combining different varieties or species to create a new organism with traits from both parents. In this scenario, Dr. Dopsis is hybridizing a tomato and a potato to produce the 'pomato.' Understanding hybridization is essential for grasping how traits from both parent species can be expressed in the offspring.

Chromosome Doubling

Chromosome doubling, or polyploidy, is a process where the chromosome number of a cell is doubled, often to stabilize hybrids that may have an uneven chromosome count. In the case of the pomato, after the initial hybridization, Dr. Dopsis plans to induce chromosome doubling to ensure the hybrid can successfully reproduce and express traits from both parent species.