genophoren.
/ˈdʒɛnəfɔː/, /ˈdʒiːnəfɔː/, U.S. /ˈdʒɛnəˌfɔr/, /ˈdʒinəˌfɔr/ Biology.
The structure that carries the genetic information of a cell, organelle, or virus; spec. the simple DNA strand of a prokaryote or plastid (as distinguished from a chromosome of a eukaryote).
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the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > nucleic acid
nucleoproteid1886
nucleic acid1892
nucleoprotein1906
A1953
genophore1961
1961 H. Ris in Canad. Jrnl. Genetics & Cytol. 3 112 Since no general term exists for the physical entity corresponding to a linkage group, I would like to propose ‘genophore’ to serve this purpose.
1964 Science 14 Aug. 679/2 (note) The term genophore is used here to designate the structure bearing the genetic information in a cell; this terminology..allows one to make a distinction between the genophore of bacteria, which is free DNA, and of multicellular plants and animals, which is in the form of a chromosome.
1970 Jrnl. Ultrastruct. Res. 32 417 The replication and segregation of the ring-like genophore can be studied during chloroplast division.
1987 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 74 1784/2 Cloned organellar sequences could have been used to give stronger hybridization signals, but they would not necessarily represent whole genophores.
1996 W. B. Stanfield et al. Schaum's Outl. Theory & Probl. Molecular & Cell Biol. i. 5 The essential genetic information in bacteria resides in a single, circular DNA molecule called the genophore or genome.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1961