X CHROMOSOME Definition & Meaning

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X chromosome

noun

Genetics.

a sex chromosome of humans and most mammals that determines femaleness when paired with another X chromosome and that occurs singly in males.

X-chromosome

noun

the sex chromosome that occurs in pairs in the diploid cells of the females of many animals, including humans, and as one of a pair with the Y-chromosome in those of males Compare Y-chromosome

X-chromosome

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The sex chromosome that in female mammals is paired with another X-chromosome and in males is paired with a Y-chromosome. Very few genes on the X-chromosome have counterparts on the Y-chromosome, and since males have only one X-chromosome, any gene present on it (even if the gene is recessive in females) is expressed in males. In females, one of the two X-chromosomes in each cell is deactivated.
See more at sex chromosomeSee note at sex

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of X chromosome¹

First recorded in 1910–15

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Using skin samples collected from variously colored cats, the researchers homed in on a mutation on the X chromosome that increases the amount of a protein called Arhgap36 only in pigment-producing cells called melanocytes.

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Multicolored cats from such a cross are almost always female, suggesting the gene variant that makes fur orange or black is located on the X chromosome.

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It may have some genetic material missing, damaged or swapped with the X chromosome, depending on the variation.

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The team identified over 140 new genetic risk loci, increasing the number known eight-fold to 164, including three on the X chromosome.

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The team found that, compared to the X chromosome, the Y chromosome varies greatly across ape species and harbors many species-specific sequences.

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