Chromosome Mutations
a change in the structure of all or part of a
chromosome
or in the number of chromosomes
deletion/insertion/inversion/translocation/nondisjunction
Nondisjunction
the addition or loss of an entire
chromosome.
This occurs when homologous pairs (tetrads) do not separate properly during Anaphase I of Meiosis. This failure to separate chromosomes properly leads to a condition in which the offspring has an abnormal number of chromosomes. The condition of having an extra chromosome in one of it pairs is called trisomy (a human with trisomy would have 47 chromosomes instead of 46). When an organism is missing one of its chromosomes, the condition is called monosomy (a human would have 45 chromosomes) .