There Are Some Genomes That Have Been Reported to Be

question 54

Essay

There are some genomes that have been reported to be positively coiled instead of negatively supercoiled, which is the status of most genomes that we have studied. The genomes that are positively supercoiled seem to belong to viruses and cells that exist at very high temperatures. Why might positive supercoiling be an advantage at high temperatures?

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Definitions:

Avoidance Learning

A learning process in which an individual learns a behavior or response to avoid an unpleasant or harmful stimulus.

Aversive Event

An unpleasant or undesirable event that causes a negative reaction in an individual, often used in psychology to study behaviors and conditioning.

Organism

A living entity that can function independently, including animals, plants, fungi, microorganisms, and in some contexts, viruses.

Punishment Learning

A form of learning in which an undesirable behavior decreases in frequency because it is followed by an unpleasant stimulus.