期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:1976
卷号:73
期号:11
页码:3966-3970
DOI:10.1073/pnas.73.11.3966
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:Analysis of the DNA of isolated nucleosomes suggests that virtually all genomic DNA sequences are organized in this basic chromatin subunit. In this report, we demonstrate that although histones reside on the transcriptionally active ovalbumin genes in the oviduct, the organization of proteins about this gene renders it highly sensitive to deoxyribonuclease I (deoxyribonucleate 5'-oligonucleotidohydrolase, EC 3.1.4.5 ). Treatment of oviduct nuclei from the laying hen with pancreatic deoxyribonuclease I results in the preferential digestion of over 70% of the ovalbumin sequences when only 10% of the total nuclear DNA has been solubilized. Treatment of liver nuclei does not reveal selective sensitivity of these genes to DNase I. Furthermore, regions of DNA not actively transcribed, such as the endogenous leukosis virus genes in the oviduct, are not selectively degraded by this enzyme. Similar digestions with micrococcal nuclease, however, reveal no specific digestion of transcriptionally active chromatin. These data confirm the observations of H. Weintraub and M. Groudine [(1976) Science 193, 848-856] and suggest we are dealing with an aspect of structure that may be necessary to permit transcription of the chromatin complex.