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Chromatin Packaging02:21

Chromatin Packaging

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Each human somatic cell contains 6 billion base-pairs of DNA. Each base-pair is 0.34 nm long, which means that each diploid cell contains a staggering 2 meters of DNA. How is such a long DNA strand packed inside a nucleus measuring only 10 - 20 microns in diameter? 
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Assembly of Nucleosomal Arrays from Recombinant Core Histones and Nucleosome Positioning DNA
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Assembly of Nucleosomal Arrays from Recombinant Core Histones and Nucleosome Positioning DNA

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Nucleosome repeat lengths and columnar chromatin structure.

Edward N Trifonov1

  • 1a Institute of Evolution , University of Haifa , Haifa , Israel.

Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics
|July 26, 2015
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Nucleosome repeat length distributions show quantized linker DNA lengths. This study links these quantized lengths to a dominant columnar chromatin structure in eukaryotes.

Keywords:
DNA digestion ladderMNasechromatin digestionnucleosome DNAsequence periodicity

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Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics
  • Structural Biology

Background:

  • Nucleosome repeat length (NRL) distributions were previously studied quantitatively.
  • A 1992 study by J. Widom observed quantized linker DNA lengths between nucleosomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between nucleosome repeat length distributions and chromatin structure.
  • To compare experimentally observed NRL averages with predicted linker lengths based on a hypothetical columnar chromatin model.

Main Methods:

  • Quantitative analysis of nucleosome repeat length distributions.
  • Comparison of average NRL values with predicted Micrococcal Nuclease (MNase) cut distances derived from a columnar chromatin model.

Main Results:

  • A close correspondence was found between average NRL values and MNase cut distances predicted by the columnar chromatin model.
  • The observed quantized linker lengths align with predictions from the hypothetical columnar chromatin structure.

Conclusions:

  • The distribution of nucleosome repeat lengths strongly suggests a dominant role for columnar chromatin structure.
  • This columnar structure appears to be a common feature across all eukaryotes.