BRAINCAKERandom Fertilisation
Fertilisation is the fusion of a male gamete and a female gamete to form a zygote. Each gamete is haploid, so fertilisation restores the diploid chromosome number (46 in humans). The zygote receives one chromosome of each homologous pair from each parent.
Fertilisation is random: any male gamete can fuse with any female gamete. Which sperm reaches the egg first is a matter of chance and does not depend on the alleles it carries.
This greatly increases genetic variation. Meiosis already makes each parent's gametes genetically different. Random fertilisation then combines one of these unique gametes from each parent.
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More in Genetic Information
- Meiosis and Genetic Variation
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- Different Types of Mutation
- Genetics and Inheritance
- Alleles
- Polygenic Traits
- Monohybrid Crosses
- Test Cross
All 30 lessons in Genetic Information · All Edexcel A-level Biology topics