What is the difference between constitutive and facultative heterochromatin?
Constitutive heterochromatin:
Heterochromatin refers to the regions of DNA in the chromosome found throughout the cell cycle.
Facultative heterochromatin:
The regions of the DNA where the genes are silenced using certain modifications are referred to as facultative heterochromatin.
Differences between constitutive and facultative heterochromatin:
Constitutive heterochromatin | Facultative heterochromatin |
|
|
2. Constitutive heterochromatin regions are visualized using the C banding technique. | 2. The facultative heterochromatin is a silenced gene that is expressed only under specific conditions. |
3. The constitutive heterochromatin appears to be much darkly stained. | 3. DNA codes for genes that are expressed poorly. |