Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term
Erbgut
"Über weniger Erbgut verfügt kein anderer eigenständiger Organismus."
These are examples from a popular science book I am translating which tells the story of Venter and his staff (among other things). I am wondering whether I may use the word DNA as a translation for "Erbgut" in the sentence above? Or is genome the correct term? I am NOT an expert so I apologise for my ignorance.
eg "Scientists at the Venter Institute synthesised the complete genome / OR / the complete DNA of mycoplasma."
"No other independent organism has a simpler DNA."
| 3 +6 | genome |
Dr. Johanna Schmitt
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| 4 +4 | Genetic makeup |
Yorkshireman
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| 3 | genetic material |
Anne Schulz
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Oct 15, 2013 13:45: Steffen Walter changed "Field (specific)" from "Chemistry; Chem Sci/Eng" to "Genetics"
Oct 20, 2013 07:36: Dr. Johanna Schmitt Created KOG entry
Oct 20, 2013 07:37: Dr. Johanna Schmitt changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/781253">Dr. Johanna Schmitt's</a> old entry - "Erbgut"" to ""genome""
Non-PRO (2): Ramey Rieger (X), Cetacea
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Proposed translations
Germany
Medicine & Science: translations+writing
Native in: German 
Works in: English to German, German
genome
"Mycoplasma genitalium has the smallest genome of any organism that can be grown in pure culture."
http://www.pnas.org/content/103/2/425.long
Please also note that your second example sentence,
"Über weniger Erbgut verfügt kein anderer eigenständiger Organismus.", means that this organisms has the smallest, not the simplest genome. Might not be a big difference, but in my opinion it is not quite the same.
| agree |
Andrea Burde (X)
: on both counts..."genome"..."smallest"
11 mins
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Vielen Dank, auburde!
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| agree |
Ingo Dierkschnieder
26 mins
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Vielen Dank, Ingo!
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| agree |
raptisi
50 mins
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Thank you, raptisi!
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Sabine Akabayov, PhD
: there is a big difference between simplest and smallest. And smallest is the correct term here.
54 mins
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Vielen Dank, sibsab! Yes, this may be a big difference, small is not necessarily simple, too.
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| agree |
Edith Kelly
3 hrs
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Vielen Dank, EdithK!
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| agree |
Cetacea
: on all points.
21 hrs
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Vielen Dank, Cetacea!
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Genetic makeup
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Note added at 6 mins (2013-10-15 13:46:10 GMT)
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Another sentence:
his test identifies the mycoplasma strain by its DNA or genetic makeup.
http://www.roadback.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/studies.display...
Quite near the bottom of the page.
The genotype is the genetic makeup of a cell, an organism, or an individual usually with reference to a specific characteristic under consideration.
| agree |
Claire Cox
1 min
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| agree |
Ramey Rieger (X)
: simple enough
8 mins
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simple is as simple does - duh!
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| agree |
raptisi
1 hr
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| agree |
gangels (X)
2 hrs
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Discussion
How about
Mycoplasms have shorter DNA strands than any other independent organism