Polyploid cells and
organisms are those containing more than two paired (
homologous) sets of
chromosomes. Most species whose cells have
nuclei (
Eukaryotes) are
diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes—one set inherited from each parent. However,
polyploidy is found in some organisms and is especially common in plants. In addition, polyploidy occurs in some tissues of animals that are otherwise diploid, such as human
muscle tissues. This is known as
endopolyploidy. Species whose cells do not have nuclei, that is,
Prokaryotes, may be polyploid organisms, as seen in the large bacterium
Epulopiscium fishelsoni [1] Hence
ploidy is defined with respect to a cell. Most eukaryotes have diploid
somatic cells, but produce haploid
gametes (eggs and sperm) by
meiosis. A
monoploid has only one set of chromosomes, and the term is usually only applied to cells or organisms that are normally diploid. Male
bees and other
Hymenoptera, for example, are monoploid. Unlike animals,
plants and multicellular
algae have
life cycles with two
alternating multicellular generations. The
gametophyte generation is haploid, and produces gametes by
mitosis, the
sporophyte generation is diploid and produces
spores by meiosis.