| Locus (genetics) |
Article Index for Locus |
Information AboutLocus (genetics) |
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A locus can be occupied by any of the Alleles of the gene. '' Diploid '' or '' Polyploid '' cells are either '' Homozygous '' (have the same allele at a locus on all chromosomes) or '' Heterozygous '' (have different alleles at a locus). NOMENCLATURE The chromosomal locus of a gene might be given as "6p21.3". Here the 6 is the chromosome number, and the letter p indicates that the position is on its short (''petit'' in French) arm. The letter q is used for the long arm of the chromosome. The numbers following the letter give the position on the arm. When suitably stained, chromosomes have a banded appearance when viewed under a microscope, and each of the bands is numbered, beginning with 1 for the band nearest the Centromere . Sub-bands and sub-sub-bands are visible at higher resolution. In the example, the location is on band 2, sub-band 1, sub-sub-band 3. A range of locations is specified in a similar manner. For example, the locus of gene OCA1 might be given as 11q14-q21, meaning it is on the long arm of chromosome 11, somewhere in the range of sub-band 4 of band 1, and sub-band 1 of band 2. The ends of a chromosome are labeled ptel and qtel and so "2qtel" refers to the Telomere of the long arm of chromosome 2. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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