[Composition of the folded chromosome from Anabaena variabilis]

A "heavy" nucleoid (folded chromosome) from A. variabilis has been isolated in preparative amounts. The composition of the folded chromosome and that of a more simple DNA--protein complex isolated from the "heavy" nucleoid of A. variabilis by chromatography on a column with methylated albumin (MAK) were studied. It was shown that the "heavy" nucleoids contain total cell DNA in a complex with the definite membrane fragment, which can be discovered by a large number of membrane proteins, phospholipids, lipopolysaccharides and amino sugars. After MAK chromatography the DNA--protein complex also contains total cellular DNA, a negligible amount of membrane polypeptides and noticeable amounts of phospholipids and lipopolysaccharides.