Chromosomes are organized structures of DNA and proteins that are found in cells. Chromosomes contain a single continuous piece of DNA that contains many genes, regulatory elements, and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions.
Note: The word chromosome comes from the Greek χρωμα (chroma, color) and σωμα (soma, body) due to their property of being stained very strongly by some dyes.
Chromosomes vary extensively between different organisms. The DNA molecule may be circular or linear, and can contain anything from tens of kilobase pairs to hundreds of megabase pairs. Typically eukaryotic cells (cells with nuclei) have large linear chromosomes and prokaryotic cells (Bacteria and Archaea: cells without nuclei) have smaller circular chromosomes, although there are many exceptions to this rule. Furthermore, cells may contain more than one type of chromosome; for example mitochondria in most eukaryotes and chloroplasts in plants have their own small chromosomes.
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