Unravelling a Chromosome Worksheet

Complete the following cloze passage using the words from the word bank.

gene alleles telomere

double helix supercoils histone
23 pairs chromosomes meiosis
nucleus karyotype
Deoxyribonucleic acid chromatids

All your genetic information is stored on DNA ( ). Every single

aspect of who you are, from your height to your ability to digest certain foods is encoded on

DNA. It is difficult to imagine that each and every cell in your body contains this complete

encyclopaedia of you.

So how does all this information fit into such a tiny space? The answer lies in

Chromosomes are specialised structures that contain tightly coiled DNA strands.

You may have seen an image that looks like the one below. This is a chromosome.

Humans have 22 numbered pairs of chromosomes and a pair of sex chromosomes (usually

XX or XY). This makes a total of 46 chromosomes or . Organisms

have different numbers of chromosomes - a fruit fly for instance has four pairs, while a dog

has 39 pairs.

One from each pair of chromosomes comes from the mother and the other from the father.

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 Unravelling a Chromosome Worksheet

You may have seen an image or photograph of chromosomes that looks like this:

Human Karyotype. Courtesy: National Human Genome Research Institute

This is known as a and is an individual’s complete set of

chromosomes.

So how does DNA get from this to this ?

The DNA is twisted and then wrapped around a protein called a

which helps to support the structure. Many DNA wrapped

histones are then coiled creating a nucleosome, which are then coiled further to form a coil

and then each coil is twisted even further forming the . These

supercoils are what we recognise as the thread-like structures of a chromosome. You can

think of it similarly to twisting a piece of string or rubber band; as you twist it, its structure

becomes condensed.

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 Unravelling a Chromosome Worksheet

This image demonstrates the twisting and coiling process from DNA double helix to a

chromosome.

Chromosomes are found in the of the cell. However, they are

not visible when the cell isn’t dividing. During mitosis and the

chromosomes become tightly packed and can be seen using a light microscope.

There are some terms you should be familiar with when talking about chromosomes.

Each chromosome is split into two known as sister

chromatids as they are an exact copy of each other. The point at the centre that pinches

the chromosome is called the centromere and this divides the chromatid into two sections

called ‘arms’ - the longer section is known as the ‘long arm’ and the shorter section is known

as the ‘short arm’. At the end of each arm is a repetitive DNA sequence that serves to protect

the ends of the chromosome known as a . Each time a cell

divides, the telomeres become slightly shorter, the cell dies when they become so short that

cell division can no longer occur.

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 Unravelling a Chromosome Worksheet

On each chromosome there are sections that are responsible for each of your traits. These

are termed genes - each has two versions of it known as

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