What are the main types of chromosome translocations?
Posted February 3, 2024
Answer
Chromosome translocations refer to a type of abnormality in which a segment of a chromosome breaks and the fragmented pieces attach themselves to a different chromosome or to a new locus on the same chromosome.
There are two main types of translocations: Reciprocal and Robertsonian.
- Reciprocal translocation: In a reciprocal translocation, segments from two different chromosomes get exchanged, resulting in two different chromosomes having exchanged segments with each other.
- Robertsonian translocations: In a Robertsonian translocation, in which an entire chromosome attaches itself to another chromosome at the centromere, which is the pinched center of a chromosome between the p and q arms.
Additional resources
The biogenesis of chromosome translocations
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