genonemen.

1934 N. Koltzoff in Science 5 Oct. 313/1 The size of the chromosomes in the salivary glands is determined through the multiplication of genonemes. By this term I designate the axial thread of the chromosome, in which the geneticists locate the linear combination of genes; the cytologists call it generally the ‘axoneme’ or ‘chromonema’.

1937 Ann. Reg. 1936 53 Chromosome study of plants tended to confirm the spiral chromonemata theory but giant salivary chromosomes seem to contain ring-shaped chromomeres connected by oblique genonemes.

1944 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 30 301 The new discoveries..revealed the presence of a coil of genonema with an attached series of perultimate chromomeres in a disc (each one double).

1965 L. C. Dunn Short Hist. Genetics xiii. 137 The logical next step, asking what kind of molecule composed the gene string (‘genonema’, a new term for chromosome).

2004 D. S. Henderson Drosophila Cytogenetics Protocols i. 17 Soon after Painter's discovery of giant chromosomes in salivary glands of D. melanogaster.., Koltzoff was among the first to propose they were multistranded and that chromosome enlargement occurred by multiplication of chromatids (he called them ‘genonemes’) without mitosis.