The role of lysine-rich histone in the maintenance of chromatin structure in metaphase chromosomes

Abstract

Dense masses of chromatin are present in the nuclei of many cells during interphase; dense chromatin is also present in the chromosomes of cells during mitosis. Relatively little RNA synthesis takes place in the dense chromatin of interphase cells,(1,2) and apparently none at all in the dense chromatin of metaphase chromosomes. It has been shown that chromatin threads of thymus nuclei are bound together into dense masses by lysine-rich histones.(3) In this paper we present evidence that in metaphase chromosomes, too, chromatin threads are held together by lysine-rich histones.