Abstract
Higher organisms are eukaryotes in contrast to bacteria and phages, which are prokaryotes. The eukaryotic chromosome is a complicated structure that, in addition to DNA, contains several different types of proteins. A prokaryotic chromosome consists of naked DNA or in some phages, naked RNA. The chromosomes of higher organisms are studied most frequently at mitotic metaphase. This is the stage at which the chromosomes reach their greatest condensation, and this natural condition is increased by a prefixation treatment with various drugs, for example, colchicine. During mitotic metaphase, the condensed chromosomes appear in identifiable shapes characteristic of the karyotype of the species being studied.
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© 1980 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
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Therman, E. (1980). Structure of the Eukaryotic Chromosome and the Karyotype. In: Human Chromosomes. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0107-3_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0107-3_2
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
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