A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein that is found in cells. A chromosome is a single piece of DNA that contains many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions. The word chromosome comes from the Greek χρῶμα (chroma, color) and σῶμα (soma, body) due to their property of being stained very strongly by some dyes.
Chromosomes vary extensively between different organisms. The DNA molecule may be circular or linear, and can contain anything from 10,000 to 1,000,000,000[1] nucleotides in length. Typically eukaryotic cells (cells with nuclei) have large linear chromosomes and prokaryotic cells (cells without defined nuclei) have smaller circular chromosomes, although there are many exceptions to this rule. Furthermore, cells may contain more than one type of chromosome; for example, mitochondria in most eukaryotes and chloroplasts in plants have their own small chromosomes.
0 comentarios:
Publicar un comentario