Histones in the first cleavage cycle of fertilised sea urchin eggs.

Nuclei were isolated from Echinus eggs through the first cleavage cycle by modification of existing techniques. When these nuclei were extracted with 2 M NaCl and the supernatant diluted to 0.15 M, large amounts of non-histone proteins remained in solution. The precipitated nucleoprotein contained expected amounts of DNA and a protein analogous to mammalian histone H1. Extrachromosomal histone H1 was eliminated by the modified isolation procedure. Amounts of nuclear proteins soluble in 0.15 M NaCl reached a peak in G2. Histones and non-histone proteins were phosphorylated postfertilization, in early prophase and in telophase.