Issue December 2009

category image Volume 27
No. 3 (p 245-398)
December 2009
ISSN 0739-110

Composition Profile of the Human Genome at the Chromosome Level (p. 361-370)

The compositional properties of the human genome have been extensively studied. These analyses focused mainly in isochores. With the availability of the human genome and several molecular techniques, new studies were performed, showing that nucleotide composition is related to three processes: gene expression, replication and recombination. Nevertheless, these studies usually focused on regions at the sub-chromosomal level. Here we study the compositional differences among chromosomes, considering structural and functional aspects using the chromosomes as the units of analysis. We show that: i) chromosomes are compositionally consistent units; ii) there exists a correlation between their GC content and size and location within the nucleus, and iii) the three processes mentioned above are linked to compositional properties at the chromosomal level. These results support the existence of a link between composition and spatial/structural/functional features of entire chromosomes. The Evolutionary mechanisms and forces underlying these patterns remain open questions.

Víctor Sabbia1
Héctor Romero1
Héctor Musto1
Hugo Naya2*

1Laboratorio de Organizaci´on y
Evoluci´on del Genoma; Facultad de Ciencias
Igu´a 4225;
Montevideo 11400; Uruguay
2Unidad de Bioinform´atica
Institut Pasteur de Montevideo
Mataojo 2020,
Montevideo 11400; Uruguay

Ph: (598 2) 525 8618 ext 7138
Fax: (598 2) 525 86 17
naya@pasteur.edu.uy

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