Higher order folding of two different classes of chromatin isolated from chicken erythrocyte nuclei. A light scattering study.

Bulk chromatin fragments were excised from chicken erythrocyte nuclei by digestion with micrococcal nuclease. Fractionation into S chromatin (soluble at physiological ionic strengths) and I chromatin (insoluble at physiological ionic strengths) was achieved by dialysis against buffers containing 0.15 M NaCl. The effects of NaCl concentration on the molecular dimensions of S and I chromatins were determined by dynamic and static light scattering. Series of fragment lengths were obtained by gel filtration of S and I chromatins under ionic conditions which lead to maximal intramolecular compaction. Hydrodynamic radii and radii of gyration were determined for fragment lengths ranging from 8 to 53 nucleosomes. These data are in excellent agreement with calculations for extended helical structures. Close-packed solenoidal or superbead structures are not compatible with these data. Comparisons of molecular dimensions derived from light scattering and electron microscopy indicate that considerable shrinkage of chromatin fragments can occur when common methods of sample preparation are used for microscopy.