Electrophoretic Analysis of Histones from Gibberellic Acid-treated Dwarf Peas

Histones from the epicotyls of light-grown dwarf peas (Pisum sativum L. cv. Little Marvel) which had been treated with gibberellic acid were compared to histones from control dwarf peas by the method of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The histone complements were found to be unaltered in the electrophoretic mobility and relative quantity of the individual fractions. The ratio of histone to DNA was also unaffected by treatment with gibberellic acid. The investigation confirmed earlier reports that over 95% of the histone of peas is contained in seven molecular species and that one of these can exist both as an oxidized disulfide dimer and as a reduced monomer. Evidence is presented which indicates that only the monomer form exists in vivo in the pea epicotyl tissue and that the oxidized dimer is an artifact of extraction. The implications of the data concerning the mechanism of action of gibberellic acid are discussed.