Human Genome Project: Chromosome 6

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute played a substantial role in the sequencing and interpretation of the human genome, contributing almost one third of the gold-standard sequence, published in 2004. The Institute engaged in collaborative projects to sequence 9 of the 23 human chromosomes. This document is historical, presented here to provide a complete record. It might not have been updated and is a contemporary account.

Chromosome 6 publication front cover.

Chromosome 6 publication front cover. [Reprinted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: [Nature] (425 (6960): 749 - 877), ©2003]
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Chromosome 6 is a submetacentric chromosome that constitutes about 6% of the human genome. The finished sequence comprises 166,880,988 base pairs. The entire sequence has been subjected to high-quality manual annotation, resulting in the evidence-supported identification of 1,557 genes and 633 pseudogenes. Our analysis further shows that at least 96% of the protein-coding genes have been identified, as assessed by multi-species comparative sequence analysis, and provides evidence for the presence of further, otherwise unsupported exons/genes. Among these are genes directly implicated in cancer, schizophrenia, autoimmunity and many other diseases. Chromosome 6 harbours the largest transfer RNA gene cluster in the genome; we have shown that this cluster co-localizes with a region of high transcriptional activity. Within the essential immune loci of the major histocompatibility complex, we found HLA-B to be the most polymorphic gene on chromosome 6 and in the human genome.

References

  • The DNA sequence and analysis of human chromosome 6.

    Mungall AJ, Palmer SA, Sims SK, Edwards CA, Ashurst JL, Wilming L, Jones MC, Horton R, Hunt SE, Scott CE, Gilbert JG, Clamp ME, Bethel G, Milne S, Ainscough R, Almeida JP, Ambrose KD, Andrews TD, Ashwell RI, Babbage AK, Bagguley CL, Bailey J, Banerjee R, Barker DJ, Barlow KF, Bates K, Beare DM, Beasley H, Beasley O, Bird CP, Blakey S, Bray-Allen S, Brook J, Brown AJ, Brown JY, Burford DC, Burrill W, Burton J, Carder C, Carter NP, Chapman JC, Clark SY, Clark G, Clee CM, Clegg S, Cobley V, Collier RE, Collins JE, Colman LK, Corby NR, Coville GJ, Culley KM, Dhami P, Davies J, Dunn M, Earthrowl ME, Ellington AE, Evans KA, Faulkner L, Francis MD, Frankish A, Frankland J, French L, Garner P, Garnett J, Ghori MJ, Gilby LM, Gillson CJ, Glithero RJ, Grafham DV, Grant M, Gribble S, Griffiths C, Griffiths M, Hall R, Halls KS, Hammond S, Harley JL, Hart EA, Heath PD, Heathcott R, Holmes SJ, Howden PJ, Howe KL, Howell GR, Huckle E, Humphray SJ, Humphries MD, Hunt AR, Johnson CM, Joy AA, Kay M, Keenan SJ, Kimberley AM, King A, Laird GK, Langford C, Lawlor S, Leongamornlert DA, Leversha M, Lloyd CR, Lloyd DM, Loveland JE, Lovell J, Martin S, Mashreghi-Mohammadi M, Maslen GL, Matthews L, McCann OT, McLaren SJ, McLay K, McMurray A, Moore MJ, Mullikin JC, Niblett D, Nickerson T, Novik KL, Oliver K, Overton-Larty EK, Parker A, Patel R, Pearce AV, Peck AI, Phillimore B, Phillips S, Plumb RW, Porter KM, Ramsey Y, Ranby SA, Rice CM, Ross MT, Searle SM, Sehra HK, Sheridan E, Skuce CD, Smith S, Smith M, Spraggon L, Squares SL, Steward CA, Sycamore N, Tamlyn-Hall G, Tester J, Theaker AJ, Thomas DW, Thorpe A, Tracey A, Tromans A, Tubby B, Wall M, Wallis JM, West AP, White SS, Whitehead SL, Whittaker H, Wild A, Willey DJ, Wilmer TE, Wood JM, Wray PW, Wyatt JC, Young L, Younger RM, Bentley DR, Coulson A, Durbin R, Hubbard T, Sulston JE, Dunham I, Rogers J and Beck S

    Nature 2003;425;6960;805-11

    PUBMED: 14574404; DOI: 10.1038/nature02055

* quick link - http://q.sanger.ac.uk/1biw890j