terminal redundancy

ter·mi·nal re·dun·dan·cy

the condition in a viral chromosome in which identical genetic information occurs at each end of the chromosome.

terminal redundancy

the repetition of sequences at both ends of a DNA MOLECULE. Terminal redundancy is exhibited by BACTERIOPHAGE T4 DNA where the ends are DIRECT REPEATS. Terminal redundancy arises by the mode of packaging of T4 DNA into phage heads during phage assembly. The DNA is cut from a CONCATEMER and the DNA content of the phage is more than the unit GENOME length. Thus, when cutting a

‘headful’ from the concatemer, the final segment of DNA packaged into an individual phage is a duplicate of the DNA that is packaged first: