Chromosome - Prokaryotes

Prokaryotes

The prokaryotes – bacteria and archaea – typically have a single circular chromosome, but many variations exist. Most bacteria's chromosome can range in size from only 160,000 base pairs in the endosymbiotic bacterium Candidatus Carsonella ruddii, to 12,200,000 base pairs in the soil-dwelling bacterium Sorangium cellulosum. Spirochaetes of the genus Borrelia are a notable exception to this arrangement, with bacteria such as Borrelia burgdorferi, the cause of Lyme disease, containing a single linear chromosome.