Table 2.

Major features of the most represented tandem repeats in the human genome.

Repeat type			Unit length	Array length	Estimated % genome coverage
Tandem	Satellite	Alpha-Satellite	171 bp	3–5 Mb	22–25%
		Satellite II (HsatII)	23–26 bp or multiple	10–70 kb
		Satellite III (GAATGn- simple sequence)	5 bp or multiples up to 70 bp	7.5–100 kb
		Beta-Satellite	68 bp	2–14.5 kb
		Gamma-Satellite	220 bp	10–200 kb
	VNTR (Variable number of tandem repeats)	Microsatellite (Short tandem repeat)	1–13 bp	Hundreds bp
		Minisatellite (including telomeric repeats)	6–100 bp	1–15 kb or more
		Macrosatellite	2–12 kb or more	Tens up to hundreds bp

Genome coverage is estimated on the basis of current genome coverage.