In a sexually reproducing species with a diploid number of 8, how many different diploid combinations of chromosomes would be possible in the offspring?
a. 8
b. 16
c. 64
d. 256
e. 512

The answer is D.

Explanation:

Diploid, meaning cells that have a number of chromosomes of 2n, twice the number reproductive cells contain, half of them from the maternal and the other half from the paternal origins. Human diploid cells have 46 chromosomes which means that n = 23.

In a sexually reproducing species mentioned in the question, with a diploid number of 8 meaning that 2n = 8, the different diploid combinations of chromosomes possible for their offspring can be calculated using and when we put 4 in place of n, the answer is calculated as 256.

I hope this answer helps.

Substitution Mutation - A mutation that exchanges one base for another. For this example substitute A with G which will result in this sequence:

GCTGGTCGGCTG

Deletion Mutation - A mutation in which a section of the DNA is cut or lost.

GCTAATCGGCTA -> GCTCGGTA; section AAT was deleted

Insertion Mutation - Extra base pairs are inserted into a new place within the DNA

GCTAATGCGCGGCTA - GCG was added after AAT

Hope this helps!