Polytene Chromosomes are Useful for Studying Chromatin Because They …

Question

Polytene chromosomes are useful for studying chromatin because they …
A) are smaller than regular chromosomes and easier to manipulate.
B) lack heterochromatin.
C) have distinct visible banding patterns.
D) can make polyploid cells.
E) All of the above.

Accepted Answer

The enormous polytene chromosomes have proven very useful in visualizing chromosome organization; they can be readily studied by light microscopy and show distinct banding patterns corresponding to certain genomic positions, providing clues as to how the chromatin is organized into domains at a large scale.