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UCSC human chromosome colours
An image of the 46 chromosomes making up the diploid genome of a human male. (The mitochondrial chromosome is not shown.)


Winkler's definition, in translation, runs:


However, no single haploid chromosome set defines even the DNA of a species, because of the huge variety of alleles carried by a population. Even a diploid individual carries genetic variety. For that reason Dobzhansky preferred "set of chromosomes", and the definition now must be broader than Winklers' definition. The genome of a haploid chromosome set is merely a sample of the total genetic variety of a species.


Genome sizes

Organism Genome size (base pairs) Note
Virus, Bacteriophage MS2 3569 First sequenced RNA-genome
Virus, SV40 5224
Virus, Phage Φ-X174 5386 First sequenced DNA-genome
Virus, Phage λ 5×104
Bacterium, Escherichia coli 4×106 Best-researched bacterium.
Bacterium, Solibactoer usitatus 1×107 Largest known bacterial genome
Plant, Fritillaria assyrica 1.3×1011
Yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae 2×107
Fungus, Aspergillus nidulans 3×107
Insect, Drosophila melanogaster aka fruit fly 1.3×108
Insect, Bombyx mori aka silk moth 5.30×108
Insect, Apis mellifera aka honey bee 1.77×109
Mammal, Homo sapiens 3×109


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