Genes, isochores and bands in human chromosomes 21 and 22

The recently available DNA sequences from chromosomes 21 and 22 enabled us to define the relationships of different band types with isochores and with gene concentration and to compare these relationships with previous results. We showed that chromosomal bands appear as Giemsa or Reverse bands depending not on their absolute GC level, but on the composition GC level relative to those of adjacent contiguous bands. We also demonstrated that the GC-richest, and gene-richest H3(+) bands are characterized by a lower DNA compaction compared with the GC-poorest, gene-poorest L1(+) bands. Moreover, our results indicate that the human genome contains about 30,000 genes.