Polysomy is a condition in which an organism has at least one more chromosome

Chromosome

A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein found in cells. It is a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions.Chromosomes...

 than normal, i.e. the number of a particular chromosome is not diploid - there may be three or more copies of the chromosome rather than the expected two copies. Polysomy is usually caused by non-disjunction (the failure of a pair of homologous chromosome

Homologous chromosome

Homologous chromosomes are chromosome pairs of approximately the same length, centromere position, and staining pattern, with genes for the same characteristics at corresponding loci. One homologous chromosome is inherited from the organism's mother; the other from the organism's father...

s to separate) during meiosis

Meiosis

Meiosis is a special type of cell division necessary for sexual reproduction. The cells produced by meiosis are gametes or spores. The animals' gametes are called sperm and egg cells....

, but may also be due to a translocation mutation

Mutation

In molecular biology and genetics, mutations are changes in a genomic sequence: the DNA sequence of a cell's genome or the DNA or RNA sequence of a virus. They can be defined as sudden and spontaneous changes in the cell. Mutations are caused by radiation, viruses, transposons and mutagenic...

. Down's syndrome

Down syndrome

Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...

 is an example of polysomy where affected individuals possess three copies (trisomy) of chromosome 21

Chromosome 21 (human)

Chromosome 21 is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. People normally have two copies of this chromosome. The trisomy of the 21st chromosome causes Down Syndrome...

.

Polyploidy (in Greek: πολλαπλόν - multiple) is a term applied to cells or organisms that contain more than two copies of each of their chromosomes. Where an organism is normally diploid, some spontaneous aberrations may occur which are usually caused by a hampered cell division. Polyploid types are termed corresponding to the number of chromosome sets in the nucleus: triploid (three sets; 3n), tetraploid (four sets; 4n), pentaploid (five sets; 5n), hexaploid (six sets; 6n) and so on. A haploid (n) only has one set of chromosomes. Haploidy may also occur as a normal stage in an organism's life cycle as in fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

s and fungi.