The total complement of genes in an organism or cell is known as its genome, which may be stored on one or more chromosomes; the region of the chromosome at which a particular gene is located is called its locus.
A chromosome consists of a single, very long DNA helix on which thousands of genes are encoded. Prokaryotes - bacteria and archaea - typically store their genomes on a single large, circular chromosome, sometimes supplemented by additional small circles of DNA called plasmids, which usually encode only a few genes and are easily transferable between individuals.
For example, the genes for antibiotic resistance are usually encoded on bacterial plasmids and can be passed between individual cells, even those of different species, via horizontal gene transfer.
Although some simple eukaryotes also possess plasmids with small numbers of genes, the majority of eukaryotic genes are stored on multiple linear chromosomes, which are packed within the nucleus in complex with storage proteins called histones.
The manner in which DNA is stored on the histone, as well as chemical modifications of the histone itself, are regulatory mechanisms governing whether a particular region of DNA is accessible for gene expression.
The ends of eukaryotic chromosomes are capped by long stretches of repetitive sequences called telomeres, which do not code for any gene product but are present to prevent degradation of coding and regulatory regions during DNA replication.
The length of the telomeres tends to decrease each time the genome is replicated in preparation for cell division; the loss of telomeres has been proposed as an explanation for cellular senescence, or the loss of the ability to divide, and by extension for the aging process in organisms.
Whereas the chromosomes of prokaryotes are relatively gene-dense, those of eukaryotes often contain so-called "junk DNA", or regions of DNA that serve no obvious function.
Simple single-celled eukaryotes have relatively small amounts of such DNA, whereas the genomes of complex multicellular organisms, including humans, contain an absolute majority of DNA without an identified function.
However it now appears that, although protein-coding DNA makes up barely 2% of the human genome, about 80% of the bases in the genome may be being expressed, so the term "junk DNA" may be a misnomer.
After DNA replication is complete, the cell must physically separate the two copies of the genome and divide into two distinct membrane-bound cells. In prokaryotes - bacteria and archaea - this usually occurs via a relatively simple process called binary fission, in which each circular genome attaches to the cell membrane and is separated into the daughter cells as the membrane invaginates to split the cytoplasm into two membrane-bound portions.
Binary fission is extremely fast compared to the rates of cell division in eukaryotes. Eukaryotic cell division is a more complex process known as the cell cycle; DNA replication occurs during a phase of this cycle known as S phase, whereas the process of segregating chromosomes and splitting the cytoplasm occurs during M phase. In many single-celled eukaryotes such as yeast, reproduction by budding is common, which results in asymmetrical portions of cytoplasm in the two daughter cells.
Molecular inheritance
The duplication and transmission of genetic material from one generation of cells to the next is the basis for molecular inheritance, and the link between the classical and molecular pictures of genes.
Organisms inherit the characteristics of their parents because the cells of the offspring contain copies of the genes in their parents' cells. In asexually reproducing organisms, the offspring will be a genetic copy or clone of the parent organism.
In sexually reproducing organisms, a specialized form of cell division called meiosis produces cells called gametes or germ cells that are haploid, or contain only one copy of each gene.
The gametes produced by females are called eggs or ova, and those produced by males are called sperm. Two gametes fuse to form a fertilized egg, a single cell that once again has a diploid number of genes—each with one copy from the mother and one copy from the father.
During the process of meiotic cell division, an event called genetic recombination or ''crossing-over'' can sometimes occur, in which a length of DNA on one chromatid is swapped with a length of DNA on the corresponding sister chromatid. This has no effect if the alleles on the chromatids are the same, but results in reassortment of otherwise linked alleles if they are different.
The Mendelian principle of independent assortment asserts that each of a parent's two genes for each trait will sort independently into gametes; which allele an organism inherits for one trait is unrelated to which allele it inherits for another trait.
This is in fact only true for genes that do not reside on the same chromosome, or are located very far from one another on the same chromosome.
The closer two genes lie on the same chromosome, the more closely they will be associated in gametes and the more often they will appear together; genes that are very close are essentially never separated because it is extremely unlikely that a crossover point will occur between them. This is known as genetic linkage.
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Genes - What are Genes?
RNA genes and genomes
[Via: NEWSmedical]
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Genes - What are Genes?
RNA genes and genomes
[Via: NEWSmedical]
