An improved isolation procedure for yeast two-micrometer minichromosomes

Two micrometer minichromosomes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were isolated without detergent using metrizamide gradients. 2 μm minichromosomes showed a lower density in metrizamide gradients relative to genomic chromatin. Our results suggest a lower ratio of proteins to DNA in 2-μm minichromosomes as compared with genomic chromatin. The procedure described herein yields minichromosomes free of cellular chromatin and ribosomal protein contamination. This method may be useful for the isolation and characterization of other yeast minichromosomes.