Abstract
The strategy of cell differentiation is based primarily on the principle of differential gene activation. With any mechanism of differential gene activation, the final processes leading to the activity of a gene occur at the level of the chromosome. Discussion about the probable nature of these final processes, and the intermediates involved therein, will end with experiments in which such processes prove to be operational in isolated chromosomes. Using regular chromosomal material, the gene specificity of an activation process is difficult to establish. However, with polytene chromosomes of salivary glands from Chironomus this can be done easily and precisely. These chromosomes exhibit a very characteristic banding pattern and are so big that they can be isolated even by freehand micro-manipulation. Thus, they represent an ideal tool for studying differential gene activation at the chromosome level.
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Lezzi, M., Robert, M. (1972). Chromosomes Isolated from Unfixed Salivary Glands of Chironomus. In: Beermann, W. (eds) Developmental Studies on Giant Chromosomes. Results and Problems in Cell Differentiation, vol 4. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-37164-9_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-37164-9_2
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