Centromeres

Centromeres

A centromere is the part of a chromosome that joins two chromatids together, without them, cells cannot divide properly and mitosis could not occur, preventing cell replication.

Although part of the chromosome the centromere itself is a section of noncoding DNA and contains no genetic information.

Function

Centromeres contain kinetochores, these are the regions of the centromere that attach chromosomes to the spindles, seperating the chromosomes, during prophase of mitosis

Postion
They can vary on postion on the chromosome, being in the center (metacentric) or creating long and short arms if appearing slightly towards one end (submetacentric),
almost at the end (acrocentric) or joining the end of the chromatids (telocentric).

When creating karyotypes, the postion of the centromere is used to find matching pairs, as it can be very specific.