heterochromatic, a.
(ˌhɛtərəʊkrəʊˈmætɪk)
[f. hetero- + chromatic a. 1 in sense 1; in sense 2, f. next + -ic.]
1. Relating to or possessing more than one colour; relating to light or other radiation of more than one wavelength. Also fig.
| 1895 F. W. Oliver et al. tr. Kerner's Nat. Hist. Plants II. 569 Contrasting with these heterochromatic species are those with homochromatic flowers, which..invariably present the same colour and pattern. 1924 Nature 30 Aug. 329/2 The use of absorbing screens in heterochromatic photometry. 1932 S. Duke-Elder Text-bk. Ophthalmol. I. xxii. 861 The comparison of the luminosities of lights of different colours comprises the science of heterochromatic photometry. 1937 Archit. Rev. LXXXI. 198/2 Heterochromatic harmonies, or harmonies of different hue. 1969 Nature 11 Oct. 162/2 Along each heterochromatic channel there is..a positional as well as a wavelength variation which must be taken into account in the interpretation of line profiles. |
2. Cytol. Of chromosome material: becoming heteropycnotic at some stage in the nuclear cycle.
| 1936 [see euchromatic a.]. 1942 Nature 17 Jan. 66/2 The two properties of inertness and abnormality of nucleic acid cycle are combined in the same genes or chromomeres... These are then said to be heterochromatic as opposed to the active or euchromatic genes. 1951 G. H. Bourne Cytol. & Cell Physiol. (ed. 2) v. 195 On the one hand the heterochromatic regions may be thicker and more dark-staining than the euchromatic ones... On the other hand, a heterochromatic region or chromosome may appear thinner and stain more weakly than euchromatic regions in the same nucleus. 1956 Nature 10 Mar. 452/2 It usually appears as three dots arranged in a triangle, suggesting the presence of an under-stained (‘heterochromatic’) region close to the centromere. 1969 Ibid. 16 Aug. 684/2 In plants..supernumerary heterochromatic chromosomes may make pollen grains undergo additional divisions and quicken cell division. |