What is linkage and recombination?

“Linkage and recombination are the phenomena that describe the inheritance of genes.”

Linkage

Morgan noted that while crossing a set of characters, two genes did not follow Mendel’s law as they did not divide as per the law. The likelihood of achieving a parental combination if two genes are situated on the same chromosome was relatively higher in the subsequent generation in comparison to the non-parental combination. The physical connection of genes was referred to as linkage.

Recombination

Recombination is a process of producing new combinations of alleles by the recombination of DNA molecules. It is also referred to as genetic recombination, as there is an exchange of genetic material(DNA) between two different chromosomes or between different regions of the same chromosome. This process is observed in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. It increases the genetic diversity of sexually reproducing organisms.