CHROMOSOME ORGANIZATION

AND STRUCTURE

INSTRUCTOR: WYNLI F. ANCOG RMT, RN, LLB

• Chromosomes - are the structures within cells that contain the genetic
material.
• Genome - refers to a complete set of genetic material in a particular cellular
compartment.
• The primary function of the genetic material is to store the information needed to
produce the characteristics of an organism.
 VIRAL GENOMES
• Viruses - are small infectious particles that contain nucleic acid as their genetic material,
surrounded by a protein coat, or capsid.
• By themselves, viruses are not cellular organisms. They do not contain
energy-producing enzymes, ribosomes, or cellular organelles. Instead,
viruses rely on their host cells— the cells they infect—for making new
viruses. In general, most viruses exhibit a limited host range, the
spectrum of host species that a virus can infect. Many viruses can infect
only specific types of cells of one host species. Depending on the life
cycle of the virus, the host cell may or may not be destroyed during the
process of viral replication and release.
• The genetic material and genome sizes vary among different types of
viruses
• Some viruses self-assemble, but others require proteins that direct their
assembly
 BACTERIAL CHROMOSOMES
• Inside a bacterial cell, the chromosome is highly compacted and found within a region of the
cell known as the nucleoid .
• Bacterial chromosomes are found in the nucleoid region of a bacterial cell. They are
typically circular and carry an origin of replication and a few thousand genes
• Two important features of bacterial chromosomes:
1. The organization of DNA sequences along the chromosome.
2. the mechanisms that cause the chromosome to become a
compacted structure within a nucleoid of the bacterium.
THE ORGANIZATION OF DNA SEQUENCES
• Bacterial chromosomal DNA is usually a circular molecule, though some bacteria have
linear chromosomes. A typical chromo some is a few million base pairs (bp) in length.
• A bacterial chromosome commonly has a few thousand different genes. These genes are
interspersed throughout the entire chromosome
• Structural genes—nucleotide sequences that encode proteins— account for the majority of
bacterial DNA.
• Intergenic regions- The nontranscribed regions of DNA located between adjacent genes
• Origin of replication - a sequence that is a few hundred nucleotides in length. This
nucleotide sequence functions as an initiation site for the assembly of several proteins
required for DNA replication.
• Repetitive sequences – These sequences are found in multiple copies and are usually
interspersed within the intergenic regions throughout the bacterial chromosome. Repetitive
sequences may play a role in a variety of genetic processes, including DNA folding, DNA
replication, gene regulation, and genetic recombination.
• The Formation of Chromosomal Loops Helps Make the Bacterial Chromosome More
Compact
1. To fit within the bacterial cell, the chromosomal DNA must be compacted
about 1000-fold.
• Loop domains - is a segment of chromosomal DNA folded into a structure that resembles a
loop. DNA-binding proteins anchor the base of the loops in place.
• Negative DNA supercoiling can promote DNA strand separation.
• DNA gyrase (topoisomerase II) is a bacterial enzyme that introduces
negative supercoils. Topoisomerase I relaxes negative supercoils.
 EUKARYOTIC CHROMOSOMES
• Eukaryotic species have one or more sets of chromosomes; each set is composed of several
different linear chromosomes. Humans, for example, have two sets of 23 chromosomes each,
for a total of 46. The total amount of DNA in cells of eukaryotic species is usually much
greater than that in bacterial cells. This enables eukaryotic genomes to contain many more
genes than their bacterial counterparts.
• A distinguishing feature of eukaryotic cells is that their chromosomes are located within a
separate cellular compartment known as the nucleus
• Chromatin - refers to the DNA-protein complex found within eukaryotic chromosomes.
• The human genome contains about 41% unique sequences and 59% repetitive sequences
END OF SLIDE