genomic material [GENO_0000106]

genomic material

ID: GENO_0000106

A nucleic acid macromolecule that is part of a cell or virion and has been inherited from an ancestor cell or virion, and/or is capable of being replicated and inherited through successive generations of progeny.

1. Genomic material here is considered as a DNA or RNA molecule that is found in a cell or virus, and capable of being replicated and inherited by progeny cells or virus. As such, this nucleic acid is either chromosomal DNA, or some replicative epi-chromosomal plasmid or transposon. Genetic material is necessarily part of some 'material genome', and both are necessarily part of some cell or virion. So a genomic library is not considered a material genome/genetic material - rather, we could say that this genomic library is a 'genomic material sample' that bears the concretization of some genome. 2. Genomic material need not be inherited from an immediate ancestor cell or organism (e.g. a replicative plasmid or transposon acquired through some experimental modification), but such cases must be capable of being inherited by progeny cells or organisms.