Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Relating to or having large chromosomes formed by repeated DNA replication and consisting of many chromatids side by side.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective molecular biology Having very large chromosomes with many strands
  • noun molecular biology A very large chromosome with many strands; a chromosome exhibiting polyteny

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[poly– + Latin taenia, band (from Greek tainiā, ribbon; see ten- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

poly- + -tene

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Examples

  • Using antibodies, Capelson and her collaborators were able to detect the binding of Nup98, SEC13, and FG-containing nucleoporins to specific genes on the polytene chromosomes.

    Newswise: Latest News 2010

  • Using antibodies, Capelson and her collaborators were able to detect the binding of Nup98, SEC13, and FG-containing nucleoporins to specific genes on the polytene chromosomes.

    EurekAlert! - Breaking News 2010

  • Immunolocalization studies on Drosophila polytene chromosomes suggest that Spt5 is associated with many loci throughout the genome.

    PLoS ONE Alerts: New Articles Keerthi Krishnan et al. 2008

  • At the molecular level, Spt5 localization on polytene chromosomes and chromatin immunoprecipitation studies reveal broad distribution of Spt5 at sites of active transcription as well as at the un-induced heat shock gene promoters

    PLoS ONE Alerts: New Articles Keerthi Krishnan et al. 2008

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