A Radiolarian, a type of protozoan, possesses 1600 chromosomes (2n = 1600). This is a remarkably high number compared to most other organisms.
Understanding Chromosome Numbers
The number of chromosomes varies greatly across species. Humans, for example, have only 46 chromosomes (23 pairs). Other organisms have far fewer or, as in the case of the Radiolarian, far more. The chromosome number doesn't directly correlate with organism complexity.
- Humans: 46 chromosomes
- Fruit flies: 8 chromosomes
- Radiolarian: 1600 chromosomes
The provided references highlight various aspects of chromosome counts and analysis, including studies on infertility in males (analyzing 1600 patients), research into chromosome abnormalities, and mapping of genes on specific chromosomes. However, these studies don't relate directly to the species with 1600 chromosomes, except to reinforce the variability of chromosome numbers in nature. The number 1600 also appears in other contexts in the provided references, such as the number of replication origins identified in yeast, or the number of patients in a particular study, illustrating that 1600 is a number that appears in different biological research studies.
