Three organizations of human DNA.

Human DNA was denatured, annealed to low C0t, and fractionated by centrifugation to equilibrium on gradients of NaI. Three well-defined zones resulted. The topmost, least dense zone contained satellite DNA. The bottom zone contained molecules bearing infrequent sequences and short repeated DNA. The middle zone contained molecules bearing infrequent sequences, short repeated DNA, and long repeated DNA. The NaI pattern was independent of single-strand DNA chain length from 5 to 30 kilobases. Structural genes were found in the organization bearing long repeats.