Constitutive heterochromatin polymorphisms in human chromosomes identified by whole comparative genomic hybridization

Whole comparative genomic hybridization (W-CGH) is a new technique that reveals cryptic differences in highly repetitive DNA sequences, when different genomes are compared using metaphase or interphase chromosomes. W-CGH provides a quick approach to identify differential expansion of these DNA sequences at the single-chromosome level in the whole genome. In this study, we have determined the frequency of constitutive chromatin polymorphisms in the centromeric regions of human chromosomes using a whole-genome in situ cross-hybridization method to compare the whole genome of five different unrelated individuals. Results showed that the pericentromeric constitutive heterochromatin of chromosome 6 exhibited a high incidence of polymorphisms in repetitive DNA families located in pericentromeric regions. The constitutive heterochromatin of chromosomes 5 and 9 was also identified as highly polymorphic. Although further studies are necessary to corroborate and assess the overall incidence of these polymorphisms in human populations, the use of W-CGH could be pertinent and of clinical relevance to assess rapidly, from a chromosomal viewpoint, genome similarities and differences in closely related genomes such as those of relatives, or in more specific situations such as bone marrow transplantation where chimerism is produced in the recipient.