Constitutive heterochromatin domains are sections of DNA that occur throughout the chromosomes of eukaryotes, but particularly at the centromeres and telomeres. They often consist of very highly condensed, repetitive DNA and are largely transcriptionally silent. These regions normally appear darkly stained in karyograms.
Unlike facultative heterochromatin, constitutive heterochromatin is never converted back into euchromatin. The regions of DNA that exist as constitutive heterochromatin will be the same for all cells of a given species.
Constituitive heterochromatin is stained specifically with the C-banding technique.
Famous quotes containing the word constitutive:
“Madness is the absolute break with the work of art; it forms the constitutive moment of abolition, which dissolves in time the truth of the work of art.”
—Michel Foucault (1926–1984)