You are engaged in a project to breed new color variants in snakes. a certain chromosome carries three genes that all affect pigmentation. two of the genes, a and b are near each other on the chromosome, but gene c is further away. you are hoping to maintain the versions of the three genes from the maternal chromosomes in some of the grandchildren. what would you predict for the behavior of these genes during crossover in meiosis?
a. all three genes are equally likely to be separated by a crossover event, since these are randomly distributed.
b. the maternal chromosome will be transmitted as it is to half of the progeny.
c. the maternal chromosome will be transmitted as it is to all of the progeny.
d. genes a and b are likely to stay together, but they are more likely to become separated from gene c since a crossover is more likely to occur in the longer space between them.