Significance of crossing over

 Crossing over is useful in three principal ways, viz:

• Creation of variability,

• Locating genes on the chromosomes, and

• Preparing linkage maps

Creation of variability

Crossing over leads to recombination or new combination and thus is a potential genetic mechanism for creating variability which is essential for the improvement of genotypes through selection.

Locating genes

Crossing over is a useful tool for locating genes in the chromosomes.

Linkage or chromosome maps

Crossing over plays an important role in the preparation of chromosome maps or linkage maps. It provides information about the frequency of recombinations and sequence of genes that are required for the preparation of linkage maps.