Altered nucleosome spacing in newly replicated chromatin from Friend leukemia cells

Chromatin from Friend leukemia cells labeled with [14C]thymidine for 24 hr followed by [3H]thymidine for 10 min is converted into nucleosomes by staphylococcal nuclease at only half the rate that total chromatin is converted. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of nucleosomal DNA from cells labeled for 24 hr with [14C]thymidine followed by 10 min with [3H]thymidine demonstrates that the internucleosomal spacer of newly replicated chromatin is approximately 20 base pairs shorter than that of total chromatin. The implications of this difference for models of chromatin structure are discussed.