Chromosomal domains of chimpanzee are diverged from human as revealed by in situ hybridization using human genomic probe

Utilization of repetitive DNA probes to assess the taxonomic affinity between related species has become the most powerful tool in evolutionary biology today. Consequently, tremendous strides have recently been made towards establishing the phylogenetic relationship of humans with chimpanzee. We employed human genomic proe (P5080 B.5) to identify the degree of divergence of chimpanzee genome from humans. A small protion of structurally distinct genomic areas in chimpanzee could be identified by fluorescencein situ hybridization (FISH) technique when compared to human DNA. The genomic divergence is confined mainly to the chromosomal ends in chimpanzee and may be an important phylogenetic characteristic in human evolution.