Chromosome vs. Chromatin

Chromosomenoun

A linear arrangement of condensed DNA and associated proteins (such as chaperone proteins) which contains the genetic material (genome) of an organism.

Chromosomenoun

One of the minute bodies into which the chromatin of the nucleus is resolved during mitotic cell division; the idant of Weismann.

Chromosomenoun

a threadlike body in the cell nucleus that carries the genes in a linear order

Chromosome

A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. Most eukaryotic chromosomes include packaging proteins called histones which, aided by chaperone proteins, bind to and condense the DNA molecule to maintain its integrity.

Chromatinnoun

(biology) A complex of DNA, RNA and proteins within the cell nucleus out of which chromosomes condense during cell division.

Chromatinnoun

Tissue which is capable of being stained by dyes.

Chromatinnoun

The deeply staining substance of the nucleus and chromosomes of eukaryotic cells, composed of DNA and basic proteins (such as histones), the DNA of which comprises the predominant physical basis of inheritance. It was, at the beginning of the 20th century, supposed to be the same substance as was then termed idioplasm or germ plasm. In most eukaryotic cells, there is also DNA in certain plasmids, such as mitochondria, or (in plant cells) chloroplasts; but with the exception of these cytoplasmic genetic factors, the nuclear DNA of the chromatin is believed to contain all the genetic information required to code for the development of an adult organism. In the interphase nucleus the chromosomes are dispersed, but during cell division or meiosis they are condensed into the individually recognizable chromosomes. The set of chromosomes, or a photographic representation of the full set of chromosomes of a cell (often ordered for presentation) is called a karyotype.

Chromatinnoun

the readily stainable substance of a cell nucleus consisting of DNA and RNA and various proteins; during mitotic division the chromatin condenses into chromosomes

Chromatin

Chromatin is a complex of DNA, protein and RNA found in eukaryotic cells. Its primary function is packaging long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures.