Many experts used to tell eukaryotic cell are having many chromosomes not many DNA strands. Do they have fragmented DNA pieces or a single DNA. I can understand the differences between chromosomes and DNA. But I am thinking, on which criteria a long DNA duplex is said to be as chromosomes. I am totally confused with this matter.
Human have 46 chromosomes which comes in existence only in mitotic phase of cell cycle. Generally DNA means double stranded deoxyribonucleic acid which refer to whole genome sequence of a respective species but theoretically it can be used for a nucleotide or a chain of nucleotides also. In other phases of cell cycle whole genome of a cell will be distributed in nucleus in the form of supercoiled chromosomes. So it matters for what you are using the word DNA. So if you refering for whole genome than human are having one DNA and chromosomes are its arrangements in cells.
Exactly Bruni, I met with this question when I was referring about Telomeres. Thanks for coming to apt point I meant.
The term "chromosome" has different meanings, a viral chromosome may be DNA or even RNA with associated proteins, this is considered essentially from a genetic point of view, as a genetic material ; whereas chromosome in eukaryotes is rather a cytological material ; several experimental arguments showed that each chromosome is formed by a double stranded DNA molecule (i e DNA sequencing, linkage maps, direct extraction of molecules...) but sometimes more than 2 strands are observed (i e polytenic chromosomes are multistranded DNA molecules which - it seems to me but ought to be verified - remain attached at centromeres).
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