An octamer of histones H3 and 114 forms a compact complex with DNA of nucleosome size

Abstract

Equimolar mixtures of histones H3 and H4 have been reconstituted onto DNA of nucleosome core size. Two distinct complexes are formed in a relative abundance that depends on the starting ratio of H3 $ H4 to DNA. One of these complexes contains two H3-H4 dimers for each DNA molecule, and has a sedimentation coefficient of 7.5S. The other complex contains an octamer consisting of four H3-H4 dimers, and has a sedimentation coefficient of 10.4S. On the basis of these measurements, we conclude that the octamer complex (but not the tetramer complex) is a fully folded, compact structure resembling the nucleosome. © 1978 Information Retrieval Limited.