Every chromosome essentially has a primary constriction or the centromere on the sides of which disc shaped structures called kinetochores are present (Figure). Based on the position of the centromere, the chromosomes can be classified into four types.
The metacentric chromosome has middle centromere forming two equal arms of the chromosome. The sub-metacentric chromosome has centromere nearer to one end of the chromosome resulting into one shorter arm and one longer arm. In case of acrocentric chromosome the centromere is situated close to its end forming one extremely short and one very long arm, whereas the telocentric chromosome has a terminal centromere.
Sometimes a few chromosomes have non-staining secondary constrictions at a constant location. This gives the appearance of a small fragment called the satellite.
