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The electron-microscopic structure of nucleoprotein fibrils from metaphase chromosomes treated with salt

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Abstract

The diameter of nucleoprotein fibres of metaphase chromosomes is sensitive to salt concentrations. Treatment of human lymphocyte cells in metaphase with a hypotonic medium and spreading them on a water surface causes swelling of the chromosome fibres from 150–180 Å to 230–250 Å. Treatment of the chromosomes with 0.15–0.45 M NaCl, a concentration at which histones are not yet removed from the nucleoprotein complexes, apparently does not affect the chromosome structure. Treatment with NaCl solutions between 0.6 M and 2.0 M NaCl leads to a progressive extraction of the chromosomal proteins and decreases the diameter of the chromosome fibres to 80–100 Å and less.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie, Martinsried

    Georg W. Bornkamm & Johann Sonnenbichler

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  1. Georg W. Bornkamm
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  2. Johann Sonnenbichler
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Dedicated to Prof. Dr. A. Butenandt on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

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Bornkamm, G.W., Sonnenbichler, J. The electron-microscopic structure of nucleoprotein fibrils from metaphase chromosomes treated with salt. Chromosoma 43, 261–268 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00294274

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00294274

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