GP 508 - CELL BIOLOGY AND MOLECULAR GENETICS

ORGANIZATION OF GENETIC
MATERIALS IN EUKARYOTES AND
PROKARYOTES

Name : Bhumi A. Gameti

M.Sc. Agri. GPB 3rd sem
Reg. No.: 04-AGRMA-01998-2019

Submitted to:
Dr. Mithlesh Kumar
Assistant professor,
Dept. of Genetics & Plant breeding,
College of Agriculture, Tharad, S.D.A.U
What is Genome ?

• A genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA, comprising of nuclear and

mitochondrial DNA.
• A total hereditary material present in an organism.
• It may be DNA or RNA
• Genome is a totality of chromosome, unique to a particular organism or any
cell within the organism.
• Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain
that organism.
• How genome and genotype differs?
 Genome is a total hereditary material.
 Genotype is the information contained within the chromosomes.
(Small portion of genome)
 Types of Genome

There are four categories of genome according to different kinds of organisms.

Prokaryote Eukaryote Orgenelle

Virus Genome
Genome Genome Genome

•ds DNA •ds DNA •ss/ds DNA & RNA

•Hereditary material
•Circular •Linear •Packed under
present in chloroplast
•1 chromosome •Many chromosomes glycoprotein
and mitochondria.
•Nucleoid •Nucleus complex.
Genetic Organization

● In the cell, each DNA molecule

associated with proteins, and each
DNA molecule and its associated
protein is called as chromsome.
● This organization holds true for
prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
Packaging of DNA into chromosome
● Packaging of DNA into the chromosome serves several important
functions.

1. Chromosome is compact form of DNA that readily fits inside the cell.
2. Protect the DNA from the damage.
3. Only packaged DNA can be transmitted efficiently to both daughter cells,
when a cell divides.
GENOME ORGANIZATION IN
PROKARYOTES
Genome organization in prokaryotes
● They have small bodies and small genomes.
● Do not contain a nucleus or any other membrane-bound
organelle.
● small, circular (sometimes linear) DNA present in the
nucleoid region.
● They have a single chromosome that floats in the
cytoplasm.
● The genome size ranges in between 104 to 107bp with a
high gene density.
● Apart from this single chromosome, some bacteria
have extra-chromosomal DNA called plasmids.
Plasmids
• Prokaryotes also frequently carry one or more smaller independent extra-
chromosomal DNA called plasmids.
• Plasmids are not genomic DNA. They are accessory DNA molecules.
• Small circular DNA molecules that have the ability to self-replicate.
• Unlike the larger chromosomal DNA, plasmids typically are not essential for
bacterial growth.

Importance of Plasmid
• Plasmids provide advantages to bacteria such as antibiotic resistance, herbicide
resistance, etc.
• In addition, unlike chromosomal DNA, plasmids are often present in many
complete copies per cell.
BACTERIAL GENOME
 Bacterial chromosomal DNA is usually a circular molecule that is a few million
nucleotides in length.
Escherichia coli :: 4.6 million base pairs
Haemophilus influenzae :: 1.8 million base pairs
 A typical bacterial chromosome contains a few thousand different genes
● Structural gene sequences (encoding proteins) account for the majority of
bacterial DNA
● The no transcribed DNA between adjacent genes are termed intergenic regions
Packaging of DNA
● Prokaryotic cells typically have smaller genomes, the need to compact their DNA
is still substantial.
● Escherichia coli must pack its 1 mm chromosome into a cell that is only 1 µm
in length.
● It is less clear how prokaryotic DNA compacted.
Nucleoid
● A prokaryotic chromosome is circular and resides in a cell
region called the nucleoid.
● Only one complete copy of their chromosome that
is package into a nucleoid.
● 80% DNA by mass and can be unfolded by agents that act
on RNA or protein.
● Proteins - Responsible for condensing and maintain the
supercoiled structure of the DNA have not been
identified.
● The types of proteins found in prokaryotic chromosomes,
known as the nucleoid-associated proteins.
● Function:-
○ DNA determines what proteins and enzymes an FIGURE: A thin section shows
the bacterial nucleoid as a
organism can synthesize and, therefore, what compact mass in the center of the
chemical reactions it is able to carry out. cell.
Key features
● Most, but not all bacterial species contain
circular chromosomal DNA.
● A typical chromosomes is a few million
base pairs in length.
● Most bacterial species contain a single
type of chromosome, but it may be
present in multiple copies.
● Several thousand different genes are
interspersed throughout the chromosome.
● One origin of replication is required to
initiate DNA replication.
● Short repetitive sequences may be
interspersed throughout the chromosome.
● The chromosomal DNA must be compacted about a 1000-folds.
● The formation of loop domains.
● Number of loops varies according to the size of the bacterial chromosome and the
species.
● E. coli has 50-100 with 40,000 to 80,000 bp of DNA in each.
● DNA super coiling
Enzyme
● DNA topoisomerases - unwinding, replication, and rewinding of the circular,
supercoiled bacterial DNA
● For example, a topoisomerase called DNA gyrase catalyzes the negative
supercoiling of the circular DNA found in bacteria
● DNA uncoiled and relaxed in order for DNA polymerase to bind for DNA
replication and RNA polymerase to bind for transcription
E.coli
● The E.coli chromosome is compact, one
fifth of cell volume
● The determinants of nucleoid folding
 Negative supercoiling by
topoisomerases
 Condensation by the attachment of
nucleoid structure proteins
 The nucleoid is highly condensed during
rapid growth,
● RNAP (RNA polymerase) concentrates in
transcriptional loci
● RNAP is distributed throughout the
chromosome
GENOME ORGANIZATION IN
EUKARYOTES
Genome organization in eukaryotes
● Eukaryotic genome is linear and conforms the Watson-
Crick Double Helix structural model.
● Embedded in Nucleosome-complex DNA & Protein
(Histone) structure that pack together to form
chromosomes.
● Eukaryotic genome have unique features of Exon - Intron
organization of protein coding genes, representing coding
sequence and intervening sequence that represents the
functionality of RNA part inside the genome.
● A human haploid cell, consist of 23 nuclear chromosome
and one mitochondrial chromosome, contains more than
3.2 billion DNA base pairs.
● Eukaryotic chromosomes are usually linear.
● A typical chromosome is tens of millions to hundreds of
millions of base pairs in length.
● Eukaryotic chromosomes occurs in sets. Many species
are diploid. Which means that somatic cells contains 2
sets of chromosomes.
● Each chromosome contains a centromere that forms a
recognition site for the kinetochore proteins.
● Telomere contains specialized sequences located at both
ends of the linear chromosomes.
● Repetitive sequences are commonly found near
centromeric and telomeric regions.
A Typical
Chromatid
Chemical composition of chromatin
● DNA (20-40%) ● Proteins (55-60%)
○ most important chemical ○ Histones: very basic proteins, constitute about 60%
constituent of chromatin of total protein, almost 1:1 ratio with DNA.
● RNA (05-10%) ■ Five Types: H1, H2a, H2b, H3 and H4
○ associated with chromatin ○ Non-Histones: They are 20% of total chromatin
as; rRNA, mRNA, tRNA protein:
■ Nucleosomal Assembly Proteins (NAP), Other
Histone chaperones Chromosome remodeling
complexes 3
■ Structural (actin, L & B tubulin & myosin)
contractile proteins
■ all enzymes and
Nucleosome model.

● Most compaction in eukaryotic cells is the result of

the regular association of DNA with histones to form
structures called nucleosomes.
● DNA is tightly bound to histone proteins which serve
to form a repeating array of DNA-Protein particles.
● The DNA is wrapped around the histone core of eight protein subunits, forming
the nucleosome.  
● The nucleosome is clamped by histone H1. 
● About 200 base pairs (bp) of DNA coil around one histone.  The coil "untwists" so
as to generate one negative superturn per nucleosome.

An electron microscopy image of a 10 nm chro

Fig. Nucleosome with histone H1 matin
fibre
● Histone tails-
○ Protein modification
○ Protein production
● When histone tails are dissociated-
○ DNA is released for the process
of transcription and translation
Levels of DNA Packaging

THREE LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION:

• DNA wrapping around “Nucleosomes”-

The string on beads structure.
• The solenoid structure.
• Scaffold structure.
Prokaryotic Genome v/s Eukaryotic Genome
Prokaryotic Genome Eukaryotic Genome
Small genome, no specialization Larger genome, cell specialization
Genome = DNA + few proteins in simple Genome = DNA with many proteins in
arrangement complex arrangement
Contain single set of chromosome contain one or more sets of Chromosomes
Amount of DNA is smaller typically greater than that in bacterial cells
They are polyistronic They are monocistronic
Most of their DNA codes for protein or Most of the DNA does not code for protein or
RNA’s, very little “junk” RNA’s
RNA processing not an option for controlling RNA processing allows for several
gene expression opportunities to regulate genes
mRNA has a short life span (minutes) mRNA is long lived (days to months)
THANK YOU…