ExpPolyploidy is the heritable condition of possessing more than two complete sets of chromosomes. Polyploids are common among plants, as well as among certain groups of fish and amphibians. For instance, some salamanders, frogs, and leeches are polyploids. Many of these polyploid organisms are fit and well-adapted to their environments. In fact, recent findings in genome research indicate that many species that are currently diploid, including humans, were derived from polyploid ancestors (Van de Peer & Meyer, 2005). These species that have experienced ancient genome duplications and then genome reduction are referred to as paleopolyploids. This article discusses the mechanisms underlying polyploidy, and both the advantages and disadvantages of having multiple sets of chromosomes.
Mechanisms of Polyploidy
This diagram shows several pathways by which diploid species can transition to polyploid species and polyploid species can transition to diploid species. Each species is represented by an oval containing two or more colored circles. Each colored circle represents a complete set of chromosomes.
View Full-Size ImageFigure 1
Figure Detail
How does an organism become polyploid? Polyploids arise when a rare mitotic or meiotic catastrophe, such as nondisjunction, causes the formation of gametes that have a complete set of duplicate chromosomes. Diploid gametes are frequently formed in this way. When a diploid gamete fuses with a haploid gamete, a triploid zygote forms, although these triploids are generally unstable and can often be sterile. If a diploid gamete fuses with another diploid gamete, however, this gives rise to a tetraploid zygote, which is potentially stable. Many types of polyploids are found in nature, including tetraploids (four sets of chromosomes), hexaploids (six sets of chromosomes), and other chromosome-pair multiples
