Ultrastructural features of chromatin v bodies

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that chromatin fibers consist of linear arrays of spheroid nucleohistone particles, the v or "nu" bodies(7, 12, 15-19, 21, 27, 33, 34). More than any previous conception of chromatin (2, 22-24), this model is supported by: (a) biochemical studies of isolated v bodies (3, 8, 14, 19-21, 25-27. 29, 31); (b) neutron diffraction studies of chromatin (1); and (c) data on the retention of low-angle X-ray reflections during the processing of chromatin for electron microscopy (18). Furthermore, a particulate model of chromatin furnishes a basis for interpreting the histone-to-histone interaction data (4-6, 9-11, 13, 17, 28, 30). In addition, theoretical considerations of the periodicities of close-packed arrays of v bodies form a basis for explaining the low-angle X-ray reflections of chromatin.1 The present study, employing high-resolution electron microscopy, describes several characteristics of v-body structure and of the relationship of v bodies to the connecting strands. © 1976, Rockefeller University Press., All rights reserved.