Chromatin?

Question

Hi, I need 6 functions of chromatin, but im not sure what they are. Help please?

Answer 1

Chromatin is the supramolecular form our DNA is wound up (to make genes).

1 - It's major function is to keep the 3 billion bases of nucleic acid in a "manageable" form so it fits within each of our cells.

2 - the way this is accomplished is that positively charged histone proteins associate with the negatively-charged DNA backbone and help neutralize charges.

3 - chromatin is "unwound" to allow the DNA strands to be replicated.

4 - part of the chromatin structure is a telomer (a sort of biological "clock") that indicates how many times the DNA can replicate, and therefore how long the cell, and the organism, will live.

For more details, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatin
http://www.chromatin.net/
http://sbs.umkc.edu/waterborg/chromat/chromatn.html

Answer 2

Chromatin functions such as copying, repair, transcription and replication can be viewed in the conventional format of enzyme reactions, with assays of reactant and product concentrations, enyme specific activity and reaction rates, and effects of reaction inhibitors and promoters.

Answer 3

Chromatin packages DNA so that it could fit in the cell, it strengthens the DNA for mitosis and meiosis, it helps the DNA repair itself, and it controls the expression of genes. Can't think of any more :(

Answer 4

Chromosomes and chromatin are essentially the same material. The only difference is that chromosomes look thick and condensed under the microscope while chromatin looks like this fibrils that are largely dispersed. During the cell cycle, the chromatin threads undergo replication to produce 2 sister chromatids held by a centromere. This is then called a chromosome. And this happens during the S phase of cell division