Showing results for heterochromatin. Search instead for Enterochromaffin.

heterochromatin

American

[het-er-uh-kroh-muh-tin] / ˌhɛt ər əˈkroʊ mə tɪn /

noun

Genetics.

the dense, highly stainable part of a chromosome.

heterochromatin British

/ ˌhɛtərəʊˈkrəʊmətɪn /

noun

the condensed part of a chromosome that stains strongly with basic dyes in nondividing cells and has little genetic activity Compare euchromatin

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of heterochromatin

First recorded in 1930–35; hetero- + chromatin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023