disadvantage of having multiple chromosomes

[kikkid]

I have a question, and what I feel the answer is, but I am shakey at best.....this is a new subject for me: Name one disadvantage of having multiple chromosomes?

I am leaning towards, with more chromosomes cell replication becomes somewhat more complex, making errors more common? It just seems a little too simple of an answer. Can anyone out there enlighten me?
Thanks!

[mith]

http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/btk-mca/19 ... 01711.html

Might be in difficulty of expression, look up down's syndrome.

Plants seem to have no problems with it.

But it seems the real answer is beyond an introductory class.

[kikkid]

The whole question was what is one advantage/disadvantage of having multiple chromosomes? What organism holds the record for having the most chromosomes?

Being that is a fern, I was gearing my answer around the fern. This is what I put so far:
it is advantagous because it allows for a higher level of gene expression and faster development or is it so it can reproduce asexually???
Is this correct??

This was my first shot at the disadvantage: Would a disadvantage be that if a polyploid mates with a normal diploid, the F1 hybrid is triploid; this causes massive amounts of aneuploidy in the offspring, leading to almost invariable sterility of hybrid offspring??

I was told these are not good answers???? Thats when I came up with the answer for the 1st one I posted. I really appreciate your input, thanks a million!

[Jammerz]

Many plants have a much higher chromosome number than animals because they are much more resistant to the effects of polyploidy than are animals.
The reason for this, or whether it helps you or not, I do not know