The gene distribution of the human genome

Serguei Zoubak, Oliver Clay, Giorgio Bernardi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

160 Scopus citations

Abstract

Linear correlations exist between the GC levels of third codon positions (GC3) of individual human genes and the GC levels of long genomic sequences and DNA molecules (50-100kb in size) embedding the genes. These linear relationships allow the positioning of the GC3 histogram of cDNA sequences from the databases relative to the CsC1 profile of human DNA. In turn, this allows an estimate of the relative concentrations of genes in genomic regions of different GC content. An estimate obtained by using current sequence data and Gaussian decompositions of the GC3 histogram and of the CsC1 profile indicates that the GC-richest (non-ribosomal) component of the human genome is at least 17 times as gene-rich as the GC-poor regions. Moreover, our results suggest that the most recent physical maps of the human genome consisting of overlapping YACs cover less than 50% of the genes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)95-102
Number of pages8
JournalGene
Volume174
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 26 1996
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Genetics

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