If a zygote has inactive telomerase, the most relevant characteristic you would expect to see in the organism that develops is a reduction in chromosome length in gametes.
Telomerase is an enzyme that adds repetitive nucleotide sequences (telomeres) to the ends of chromosomes, which protects them from degradation during cell division. In organisms with inactive telomerase, the telomeres would progressively shorten with each cell division, leading to reduced chromosome length, especially in the gametes (sperm and eggs) as they undergo many rounds of division during development.
The other options you've listed are not directly related to telomerase activity:
- An inability to repair thymine dimers is related to repair mechanisms such as nucleotide excision repair, not telomerase function.
- An inability to produce Okazaki fragments pertains to DNA replication on the lagging strand and is generally due to issues with replicative enzymes, not telomerase.
- A high probability of somatic cells becoming cancerous can be influenced by telomere shortening but is not a direct consequence of lack of telomerase activity; rather, telomere shortening can eventually lead to senescence or apoptosis, which may lower cancer risk rather than increase it in the short term.
Thus, the most direct and relevant answer is a reduction in chromosome length in gametes.
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