User:Agathman/Chromosome

History

(discuss origin of term, and key experiments to determine that chromosomes were responsible for heredity, and how genes, the functional units of genetics, were ultimately ::found to be on chromosomes (i.e. tracking of white-eyed mutation on the fruit fly X-chromosome by combining genetics and microscopy).

Structure

(divide into prok and euk here. Discuss centromeres, telomeres, and chromatin packaging, distinguish between light compaction i.e. euchromatin, and heavy compaction i.e. heterochromatin and mention role of histones. Put that nice image of the different levels of compaction here. Good place to touch on chromosome territories. Briefly relate compaction to gene expression. Also, good place to touch on evidence for endosymbiosis theory of mitochondria and chloroplasts, unless a chromosome evolution section is wanted)

Cell Division

(Need to subdivide this into Chromosome replication in S-phase, then chromosome behavior in mitosis versus meiosis. No need to go into too much detail here, as one can link to the full length articles concerning these subjects)

Sex chromosomes

(distinguish between autosomal chromosomes and sex chromosomes, and show the different systems i.e. XX/XY in mammals, ZZ/ZW in reptiles and birds, XX/X0 in worms).

Genomes

(discuss variation of number of chromosomes between different species. Mention gene number versus DNA size i.e. C-number paradox.

Human genetics

(put stuff here specific to human genome, such as human karyotype, gene density versus chromosome length, and diseases related to aneuploidy, such as Down's syndrome or the relationship to cancer)

Summary of key differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic chromosomes

(self-explanatory, but I think this is useful for anyone who wants to quickly learn what the differences are)