genomebearing

Genomebearing is an adjective used in biology to describe any organism or biological material that contains a complete genome, the full set of genetic material. The term combines genome with bearing and is typically used in conceptual discussions about heredity and information storage in biology. Genomes can consist of DNA, and in many viruses they consist of RNA; thus, genomebearing can apply to DNA-based organisms as well as RNA-based genomes.

Scope. Living cellular organisms such as bacteria, archaea, fungi, plants, and animals are genomebearing because they carry nuclear genomes along with organellar genomes. Noncellular entities such as virus particles also carry viral genomes. Genetic elements like plasmids, mitochondrial genomes, and viral vectors likewise possess their own genomes and are genomebearing within their respective contexts. In sequencing and metagenomics, the concept helps describe material from which genome sequences are derived.

Usage notes. The term is not widely standardized and is more often encountered in theory discussions or broad descriptions rather than formal taxonomic or experimental labels. When precision is needed, researchers may instead specify the type of genome-bearing material, for example a genome-bearing cell, a genome-bearing virion, or a genome-bearing plasmid.