what are linked genes

Linked genes are genes that are physically close to each other on the same chromosome, making them likely to be inherited together. When genes are very close together on the same chromosome, crossing over still occurs during meiosis, but the genes tend to "stick together" during meiosis and are passed as a unit to gametes. This is because the alleles of the genes that are already together on a chromosome will tend to be passed as a unit to gametes. In this case, the genes are linked. If genes are farther away from each other, they are more likely to be separated during a process called homologous recombination. It is impossible for linked genes to be on different chromosomes. By finding recombination frequencies for many gene pairs, scientists can make linkage maps that show the order and relative distances of the genes on the chromosome.