Definition
noun, plural: banding patterns
(genetics) The characteristic pattern of light and dark transverse bands on a stained chromosome (as viewed under a microscope), and describes the location of genes
Supplement
Chromosome ideograms, i.e. diagrams used in identifying chromosomes, are used by cytogeneticists to show the relative sizes and the characteristic banding patterns of chromosomes. Banding patterns are patterns of light and dark transverse bands on chromosomes. The light and dark bands become apparent by staining the chromosome with a chemical solution and then viewed under a microscope. These bands describe the location of genes on a chromosome.1 The basis of the differential staining, which is the same in most tissues, is not understood: each band represents 5-10% of the length, about 10exp7 base pairs, although this is not true for polytenechromosomes in Drosophila that show more than 4000 bands. The different types of banding are G-banding, reverse-banding, C-banding, Q-banding, NOR-banding, and T-banding. Giemsa stain is used in G-banding whereas quinacrine is used in Q-banding.
See also:
- chromosome
- karyotype
- T-banding
- reverse banding
Reference(s):
1 Chromosome 15. (2012). Retrieved from http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/chromosome/15.
