Base ratio, DNA content, and quinacrine-brightness of human chromosomes

Abstract

Human chromosomes were labeled with base-specific radioactive DNA precursors and examined autoradiographically to measure their DNA content and base ratio (percentage A-T base pairs). The requirement that incorporation of labeled bases be uniform during DNA synthesis was met by the use of inhibitors of de novo synthesis of DNA precursors. The genome was subdivided into 75 segments based on quinacrine banding, and the base ratio of each was calculated by a method that corrects for bias due to the scatter of grains about their source. Estimates of base ratio are shown to be sufficiently precise to detect variability among chromosomes and among segments within a chromosome. Analysis of these data and of measurements of the quinacrine fluorescence intensity of segments leads to the following conclusions. Base ratio is positively correlated with brightness, as predicted from independent in vitro studies. Larger chromosomes tend to have higher base ratios and to be brighter than smaller ones. The best prediction of the brightness of a segment must take into account not only its base ratio but also its DNA content. To explain these results, we suggest an evolutionary model in which chromosomes containing repeated sequences of A-T-rich DNA tend to grow by means of unequal sister chromatid and meiotic exchanges.