The hereditary information is carried on six chromosomes with sizes ranging from 4 to 7 Mb resulting in a total of about 34 Mb of DNA, a multicopy 90 kb extrachromosomal element that harbors the rRNA genes, and the 55 kb mitochondrial genome. The estimated number of genes in the genome is 8,000 to 10,000 and many of the known genes show a high degree of sequence similarity to genes in vertebrate species. - NIH
Credit: Rex Chisholm, Northwestern University (NIGMS Image Gallery)
