Subunit structure of a naturally occurring chromatin lacking histones F1 and F3.

Macronuclei of the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena pyriformis contain at least five classes of histones, including two with properties like those of histones F3 and F1 of higher eukaryotes. Micronuclei isolated under identical conditions contain little or no detectable F3 or F1. Digestion of both macronuclei and micronuclei with staphylococcal nuclease results in DNA fragments of discrete sizes. The electrophoretic mobilities of the larger fragments suggest that they are oligomers of the smallest ones. These results indicate that the periodic subunit structure observed in the chromatin of higher organisms also occurs in protozoans, and that this structure does not depend on the presence of either histone F1 or F3, even in an organism which has the genetic information for synthesizing these proteins.