Centromere and Kinetochore

1. What is the difference between centrosome centromere and kinetochore?

Answer:

Primary difference between kinetochore and centromere is that a centromere is a chromosomal region that is constrained and contains repeated DNA sequences with a high degree of specialization. While the kinetochore is a protein complex in the shape of a disc that is located in the centromere region of the chromosome.

2. What is the function of the centromere and kinetochore?

Answer:

The kinetochore, a protein complex necessary for effective chromosomal segregation during mitosis, is assembled at the centromere, which serves as the building block for this process.

3. How many centromeres are there in a chromosome?

Answer:

There is only one centromere per chromosome. Microtubules connect to centromeres and drag the chromosomes to the opposing ends of the cell during cell division.

4. What is the structure of centromere?

Answer:

Centromeres can be separated into centromere core and pericentromeric sections, where the pericentromere is in control of sister chromatid cohesion while the core regions serve as the kinetochore’s attachment point.

5. Where is the centromere located?

Answer:

While centromeres are often found at the center of a chromosome, they can also be found close to the middle or in a variety of other locations. In prophase of mitosis, chromosomes are attached to spindle fibers via specialized zones on centromeres known as kinetochores.

Centromere and Kinetochore are the two primary structures located in the approximate middle of chromosomes. At the time of cell division, they are extremely important for sister chromatid segregation. The primary difference between Centromere and Kinetochore is that the centromere is the region of the chromosome that holds two sister chromatids, whereas the kinetochore is the disc-shaped protein complex of the chromosome.