In diploid organisms, having two homologues of each chromosome can be beneficial if one allele of a gene encodes a nonfunctional protein. Can haploid organisms avoid the negative effects of nonfunctional alleles?
A. No, because there are two chromosomes each with a single allele that is always the same, and one cannot compensate for the other being nonfunctional.
B. Yes, because there are two chromosomes each with a single allele that is always the same, and one can compensate for the other being nonfunctional.
C. No, because there is only one allele for the gene in each cell, and the nonfunctional allele has no other allele to mask it.
D. Yes, because there are always other alleles for other genes that will compensate for a nonfunctional allele.
E. Yes, because there is only one allele for the gene in each cell, and the nonfunctional allele will be masked by another allele of a different kind.
Answer (1)
Haploid organisms cannot avoid the negative effects of nonfunctional alleles because they possess only one allele for each gene. If this allele is defective, there is no second allele to compensate for its nonfunctionality. Thus, the consequences of such alleles are unmasked in haploid organisms. ;
