Each species has a specific identifying number of chromosomes. For example, a cat, Felis catus, has 38 chromosomes, while corn, Zea mays, has 20 chromosomes each chromosome carries specific genes that are unique to that chromosome.

Explanation:

Chromosomes vary in shape and number among living beings. For example, the bacterial chromosome is a unique circular molecule, while human beings have 46 lineal chromosomes arranged in pairs (23 pairs). The total number of chromosomes is specific to each species, and it is denoted as the "chromosomic dotation" of the species.

Genes are the hereditable units that transmit the information needed to specify traits, from parents to offspring, generation to generation. Genes are arranged in sequence in the chromosomes. A chromosome might contain hundreds of thousands of genes.

Genes vary in size and shape. They are composed of pairs of bases, and these sequences also vary in number, producing genes of different lengths. In general, genes code for proteins. Proteins create the organism tissues and perform or carry out specific functions in the organisms, controlling almost all processes and chemical reactions.

Each chromosome carries specific genes that code for specific proteins that have specific functions in the organisms. Each chromosome carries information to synthesize different proteins needed to accomplish a certain function. But not all chromosomes carry the same gene sequences. Only homologous chromosomes carry information for the same trait, but even this information is not necessarily the same. They might have the same gene but different alleles.

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