Histone H1(0) is distributed unlike H1 in chromatin aggregation.

Non-uniform distribution of H1 histone in bovine thymus chromatin was demonstrated previously. Two classes of chromatin differ in aggregation properties and histone content. The class aggregatable by physiological saline is enriched in H1, especially H1ab, the variant known to be most powerful in condensing DNA. Now, the distribution of H1 subtypes is reported for brain chromatin, where H1ab and H1c were distributed as in thymus. In contrast, H1(0) preferred neither the aggregatable chromatin nor the aggregation-resistant class. It is suggested that H1(0) is uniformly distributed with regard to euchromatin and heterochromatin, whereas H1 is concentrated in heterochromatin.