HORTICULTURE

HORTICULTURE SCIENCE

PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Before transgenic animals, farmers practiced selective breeding. An example is crossing a horse with a donkey to produce a:
A
Kangaroo.
B
Mule.
C
Gelding.
D
Race horse.
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Mules and hinnies are similar. They are both a cross between a horse and a donkey, with unique characteristics that make them special. Find out more here. Because they are so similar, the terms ‘mule’ and ‘hinny’ are used interchangeably, with hinnies often being referred to as mules.

Detailed explanation-2: -How is this an example of reproductive isolation? The mule is an example of an infertile hybrid. Even though horses and donkeys can mate and produce healthy offspring, those offspring cannot pass their genetic information down to future generations, so they are a genetic dead-end.

Detailed explanation-3: -The crossing between two different species of the same genus is called interspecific crossbreeding. Horse and donkey belong to the same genus Equus. A mule is obtained by a cross between a male donkey and female horse. Thus, the correct answer is option B.

Detailed explanation-4: -They have trouble making sperm or eggs because their chromosomes don’t match up well. And, to a lesser extent, because of their chromosome number. A horse has 64 chromosomes and a donkey has 62. A mule inherits 32 horse chromosomes from mom and 31 donkey chromosomes from dad, for a total of 63 chromosomes.

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