Variable or Indefinite Ploidy
Depending on growth conditions, prokaryotes such as bacteria may have a chromosome copy number of 1 to 4, and that number is commonly fractional, counting portions of the chromosome partly replicated at a given time. This is because under exponential growth conditions the cells are able to replicate their DNA faster than they can divide.
Read more about this topic: Ploidy
Famous quotes containing the words variable and/or indefinite:
“Walked forth to ease my pain
Along the shore of silver streaming Thames,
Whose rutty bank, the which his river hems,
Was painted all with variable flowers,”
—Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599)
“There is a line between a definite maybe and an indefinite yes.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)