Eukaryotic genomes are linear and follow the Watson-Crick Double Helix structural model. They are contained within chromosomes, bundles of DNA and proteins (Histone) known as nucleosomes.

Eukaryotic genomes In a typical human cell, the genome is contained in 22 pairs of autosomes, two sex chromosomes (the female and male variants shown at bottom right), as well as the mitochondrial genome (shown to scale as "MT" at bottom left). Eukaryotic genomes are composed of one or more linear DNA chromosomes.

Consider these fundamental facts about the eukaryotic nuclear genome. It is linear, as opposed to the typically circular DNA of bacterial cells. It conforms to the Watson-Crick double-helix structural model. Furthermore, it is embedded in nucleosomes—complex DNA-protein structures that pack together to form chromosomes.