Open AccessThe relation between chromomeres, replicons, operons, transcription units, genes, viruses and palindromes
Author(s) -
LIMADEFARIA A.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
hereditas
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1601-5223
pISSN - 0018-0661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1601-5223.1975.tb01039.x
Subject(s) - biology , replicon , operon , gene , genetics , eukaryotic chromosome fine structure , chromosome , transcription (linguistics) , palindrome , plasmid , genome , escherichia coli , linguistics , philosophy
The chromomere has been correlated or equated with several “chromosome units” such as the replicon, the unit of transcription, and the gene, thus becoming a kind of universal repository for most chromosome properties. The evidence available shows that the chromomere as such may have nothing to do with these units. Chromomeres in all probability contain these units which are a burden to the chromomere. The chromomere is a steric configuration, which is under permanent change, and which represents a particulat case of the chromosome phenotype. At every stage the whole chromosome structure is reshaped and each chromomere is built anew as a specific and novel configuration. Whereas the prokaryotic chromosome has a fixed sequence and a fixed number of operons, the eukaryotic chromosome would be endowed with a significant property, the ability to build and dismantle operational units according to the physiological functions the chromosome is called on to fulfill by the cellular environment and by its own genes. In other words, the number and type of operational units in an eukaryotic chromosome would not be fixed throughout development. This is not in conflict with the fact that each organism has a permanent genetic constitution.