Nucleosomes containing histones H1 or H5 are closely interspersed in chromatin

The distribution of histones H1 and H5 along chromatin fibers has been examined in the nucleated hen erythrocyte. Nucleosome oligomers, produced by micrococcal nuclease digestion of nuclei, were sequentially reacted with affinity-chromatography purified rabbit anti-H5 and sheep anti-rabbit antibodies. Quantitation of the relative amounts of H1 and H5 in the precipitated and supernatant fractions as a function of the oligomer number was consistent with a close interspersion of both types of histones, probably a random one. This conclusion was supported by the immunoprecipitation of longer chromatin fibers. This pattern of distribution appears to apply both to bulk chromatin and to chromatin inactivated during the maturation of the erythrocyte.