Nondisjunction

1. Meiosis I 2. Meiosis II 3. Fertilization 4. Zygote The left image at the blue arrow is nondisjunction taking place during meiosis II. The right image at the green arrow is nondisjunction taking place during meiosis I. Nondisjunction is when chromosomes fail to separate normally resulting in a gain or loss of chromosomes.

Non-disjunction ("not coming apart") is the failure of chromosome pairs to separate properly during meiosis stage 1 or stage 2, specifically in the anaphase. This could arise from a failure of homologous chromosomes to separate in meiosis I, or the failure of sister chromatids to separate during meiosis II or mitosis. The result of this error is a cell with an imbalance of chromosomes. Such a cell is said to be aneuploid. Loss of a single chromosome (2n-1), in which the daughter cell(s) with the defect will have one chromosome missing from one of its pairs, is referred to as a monosomy. Gaining a single chromosome, in which the daughter cell(s) with the defect will have one chromosome in addition to its pairs is referred to as a trisomy.

In the event that an aneuploidic gamete is fertilized, a number of syndromes might result. The only known survivable monosomy is Turner syndrome, where the individual is monosomic for the X chromosome. Examples of trisomies include Down syndrome (trisomy 21), Edwards syndrome (trisomy 18), and Patau syndrome (trisomy 13).

References

Snustad, D.P., Simmons, M.J.(2006). Principles of Genetics (4th ed.). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.