Abstract

BUENO, MARTA LUCIA. Chromosomes as Vehicle in Organization and Transmission of Characters. Acta biol.Colomb. [online]. 2011, vol.16, n.3, pp.43-60. ISSN 0120-548X.

One of the fundamental aspects of genomes is the organization of the genes in packages known as chromosomes. All organisms from the simplest to the most complex possess chromosomes as part of their genome and they are characterized by a particular morphology and a characteristic number of each species. Chromosome mutations induce changes that can originate in mitotic o meiotic errors in an individual, and these can become fixed in the population during evolution. This results either if the particular changes represent a selective advantage, or they may result in severe effects on the phenotype and fertility of its carriers that may be manifested as a genetic syndrome. In this essay I demonstrate how, using conventional and recent cytogenetic and molecular techniques we have begun understanding the function of chromosome arrangements in the differentiation of species and how particular defects or individual changes in the morphology or number of chromosomes can result in serious dysfunctions that are recognized as genetic syndromes

Keywords : chromosomes; genome organization; chromosome changes; molecular cytogenetics; chromosome evolution.

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