Satellite DNA definition
Definition of SATELLITE DNA. : a fraction of a eukaryotic organism's DNA that differs in density from most of its DNA as determined by centrifugation, that consists of short repetitive nucleotide sequences, that does not undergo transcription, and that is often found in centromeric regions. Medical Definition of SATELLITE DNA. : a fraction of a eukaryotic organism's DNA that differs in density from most of its DNA as determined by centrifugation, that consists of short repetitive nucleotide sequences, that does not undergo transcription, and that is often found in centromeric regions. Satellite DNA: DNA that contains many tandem (not inverted) repeats of a short basic repeating unit. Satellite DNA is located at very specific spots in the genome (on chromosomes 1, 9, 16 and the Y chromosome, the tiny short arms of chromosomes 13-15 and 21 and 22, and near the centromeres of chromosomes). : a fraction of a eukaryotic organism's DNA that differs in density from most of its DNA as determined by centrifugation, that consists of short repetitive nucleotide sequences, that does not undergo transcription, and that is often found in centromeric regions. ADVERTISEMENT. : a fraction of a eukaryotic organism's DNA that differs in density from most of its DNA as determined by centrifugation, that consists of short repetitive nucleotide sequences, that does not undergo transcription, and that is often found in centromeric regions. Satellite DNA is located at very specific spots in the genome (on chromosomes 1, 9, 16 and the Y chromosome, the tiny short arms of chromosomes 13-15 and 21 and 22, and near the centromeres of chromosomes). satellite DNA. n. A portion of DNA in animal cells whose density differs from that of the other DNA, consisting of short, repeating sequences of nucleotide pairs near the region of the centromere. The name satellite DNA refers to how repetitions of a short DNA sequence tend to produce a different frequency of the nucleotides adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine, and thus have a different density from bulk DNA-such that they form a second or 'satellite' band when genomic DNA is separated on a density gradient. Satellite DNA consists of very large arrays of tandemly repeating, non-coding DNA. Satellite DNA is the main component of functional centromeres, and form the main structural constituent of heterochromatin. A portion of DNA in animal cells whose density differs from that of the other DNA, consisting of short, repeating sequences of nucleotide pairs near the region of the centromere.
A fraction of a eukaryotic organism's DNA that differs in density from most of its DNA as determined by centrifugation, that consists of short repetitive nucleotide sequences, that does not undergo transcription, and that is often found in centromeric regions.