autosome

[ aw-tuh-sohm ]

noun

, Genetics.

1. any chromosome other than a sex chromosome.

autosome

/ ˈɔːtəˌsəʊm /

noun

1. any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome

Derived Forms

• ˌautoˈsomal, adjective

Other Words From

• au·to·so·mal [aw-t, uh, -, soh, -m, uh, l] adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of autosome¹

First recorded in 1905–10; auto- ¹ + -some ³

Example Sentences

The team zeroed in on differences in the ratio of DNA inherited on their X chromosomes compared with the 22 chromosomes that do not determine sex, the so-called autosomes.

From Science Magazine

A more serious problem arises because the mathematical transformation affects the quantitative comparison between different enrichment profiles by ratio calculations—e.g., when comparing males and females or X chromosomes and autosomes.

From Science Magazine

The lower plot reports the ratio between X and autosomes.

From Science Magazine

Divergence was more uniformly distributed along the Z chromosome and did not show the distinct islands of divergence characterizing most autosomes; the Z chromosome contained approximately 35% of all fixed sites in the genome.

From Nature

Furthermore, the team determined that Papuans have more Denisovan DNA on their autosomes, inherited equally often from both parents, than on their X chromosomes, inherited twice as often from the mother.

From Science Magazine