7. Chromosomes Flashcards
Chromosomes
- term coined in 1880’s: coloured bodies
- carriers of genetic info
- during S phase, chromosomes duplicate and form dyads
- the attached duplicated chromosomes are called sister chromatids
- ploidy indicates the number of sets of chromosomes
Ploidy
- most animals are diploid- have two copies of each chromosome, one from the mother and one from father
- gametes are haploid- have one set- arise through meiosis
diploid number
2n
number of chromosomes per somatic (body) cell
Haploid number
n number of chromosomes in gametes -humans 2n=46 (22 autosomes and 2 sex chromosomes) -mouse 2n=40 -drosophila 2n=8
aneuploidy
abnormal number of chromosomes
examples of aneuploidy?
trisomy= one extra chromosome
monosomy=missing chromosome
nondisjunction
- meiosis I starts normally; tetrads align at metaphase
- one set of homologs fails to separate
- meiosis II occurs normally
- all gametes have abnormal number of chromosomes
Chromosomes are NOT indestructible!
-can be broken and when repaired they may get scrambled.
translocations
movement to new chromosome
inversions
portion of chromosome is flipped
deletions
section of DNA excised
insertions
section of DNA inserted
translocations are the transfer of a piece of one chromosome to a _____________ chromosome
nonhomologous
translocations can result in change in phenotype by:
- breaking a gene
- moving gene to a region where it can be controlled by another regulatory sequence
- creating hybrid gene
(can elongate one side of chromosome)
Some cancers are due to translocations?
CML chronic myelogenous leukemia
-the c-abl gene encodes a kinase that regulate cell proliferation; the translocation alters the controls of this gene, placing it under the control of another gene’s bcr promoter
Translocation distinguishes human and ape karyotypes
- apes=48 chromosomes
- humans = 46 chromosomes
- genes in humans and chimps differ by