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autosome

American  
[aw-tuh-sohm] / ˈɔ təˌsoʊm /

noun

Genetics.
  1. any chromosome other than a sex chromosome.


autosome British  
/ ˈɔːtəˌsəʊm /

noun

  1. any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome

"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

Other Word Forms

  • autosomal adjective

Etymology

Origin of autosome

First recorded in 1905–10; auto- 1 + -some 3

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The team zeroed in on differences in the ratio of DNA inherited on their X chromosomes compared with the 22 chromosomes that do not determine sex, the so-called autosomes.

From Science Magazine

A more serious problem arises because the mathematical transformation affects the quantitative comparison between different enrichment profiles by ratio calculations—e.g., when comparing males and females or X chromosomes and autosomes.

From Science Magazine

The lower plot reports the ratio between X and autosomes.

From Science Magazine

Divergence was more uniformly distributed along the Z chromosome and did not show the distinct islands of divergence characterizing most autosomes; the Z chromosome contained approximately 35% of all fixed sites in the genome.

From Nature

Furthermore, the team determined that Papuans have more Denisovan DNA on their autosomes, inherited equally often from both parents, than on their X chromosomes, inherited twice as often from the mother.

From Science Magazine