FISH chromosome and gene basics

Anatomy of a chromosome

Figure 1: Characteristic banding pattern produced by exposure to trypsin during G banding. G band light regions tend to be gene rich. G band dark regions tend to be gene poor. Giemsa banding is a technique used in cytogenetics to produce a visible karyotype by staining condensed chromosomes.

Types of chromosome arm

Figure 2. Metacentric (left), submetacentric (centre) and acrocentric (right) chromosomes.

Guide to chromosome region

HGNC nomenclature

Gene names have been updated to reflect current HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) approved symbols. Where this affects existing product names, the approved HGNC symbol is placed into brackets. All gene names were checked and updated according to the HGNC database¹ as of April 2019.

1. HGNC Database, HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC), EMBL Outstation - Hinxton, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, CB10 1SD, UK. www.genenames.org