DISCUSSION

DNA PACKAGING IN EUKARYOTES

In DNA packaging, there are three levels required to condense DNA into a eukaryotic chromosome.

1. The first level involves the packaging of DNA as a negative supercoil involving a positively charge
octamer of histone molecules, two each of histones H2a, H2b, H3, and H4 wrapping the DNA 1.65 times
which structurally forms into nucleosome and creating the appearance of “beads” on a string, to
produce the 11-nm-diameter interphase chromatin fiber.

2. The second level involves an additional supercoiling of the 11-nm nucleosome fiber in which Histone
H1 is involved, making its appearance even shorter, tighter, compact and thicker to produce the 30-nm
chromatin fiber. This packaging is usually in two forms: Solenoid 30 nm fiber and Zigzag 30 nm fiber. 

3. Finally, the 30 nm fiber further coils and produces 300nm length loops. Nonhistone chromosomal
proteins form a scaffold that is involved in condensing the 30-nm chromatin fiber into the tightly packed
metaphase chromosomes. The 300-nm fibers are packed and folded to produce a 250-nm-wide fiber.
Tight helical coiling of the 250-nm fiber, in turn, produces the structure that appears in metaphase: a
pair of chromatids approximately 1400 nm in width.

DNA PACKAGING IN PROKARYOTES

In prokaryotic DNA packaging, supercoiling is one way to compress DNA into smaller spaces. The
overall process of DNA packaging is achieved through coiling, compacting, and supercoiling. The process
starts with the circular chromosomal DNA being compacted through the formation of loop structures
that are held in place by DNA binding protein. The formation of loop domains compacts the DNA about
tenfold. Further compaction is accomplished through a process known as super coiling. Furthermore,
DNA looping and supercoiling make the bacterial chromosome more compact so that it can fit within the
nucleoid of the bacterial cell.
1. Hippocrates: Brick and Mortar Theory

 According to him, the hereditary material consists of physical material

 He postulated that elements from all parts of the body became concentrated in male
semen and then formed into a human in the womb.
 Believed in the inheritance of acquired characteristics
o He believed that invisible seeds which contained characteristics and traits were
found in the semen of men in which are transmitted to the female during sexual
intercourse then will be reassembled in the mother’s womb to form the infant
and be resembled into passed down physical characteristics.

2. Aristotle: Hereditary Elements in Blood

 His blood-centered understanding of heredity probably spawned the terms "bloodline"

and "blueblood" (from the color of veins), which refer to lineage
 He believed that blood contained generative material for building all parts of the adult
body.
 Blood was the basis or medium to pass the generative material to the next generation.
 According to Aristotle semen was a man’s purified, which could engender a child when
coupled with menstrual blood inside a woman’s body.

3. Darwin: Theory of Pangenesis

 Darwin coined the term pangenesis, with "pan-" meaning whole, and "genesis"
indicating origin.
 Proposed that specific particles, later called gemmules, carry information from various
parts of the body to the reproductive organs, from where they are passed to the
embryo at the moment of conception.
 These gemmules are then transmitted to the next generation and are responsible for
the transmission of characteristics from parent to offspring
 Altered gemmules are caused by environmental effects and would have a chance of
being transferred to offspring