Abstract
Isolated nuclei and nucleoli of ungerminated pea embryos have been analyzed chemically for their content of DNA, RNA, zinc, iron, phosphorus, and protein sulfhydryl groups. The values obtained cannot be considered to represent the whole of the living nucleolar body as an undetermined amount of material is extracted from nucleoli in the course of their isolation. Only negligible amounts of DNA have been found in the isolated nucleoli; most of the DNA released on disruption of nuclei appears in a fraction showing very few structures under the light microscope. RNA is more concentrated in the nucleolus than in the nucleus or cytoplasm, but since nucleolar protein is 6 per cent of nuclear and less than 1 per cent of cytoplasmic protein, the total amount of nucleolar RNA is comparatively small. None of the other components listed occurs in high concentration in either nucleus or nucleolus.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (306.2 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Allen R. J. The estimation of phosphorus. Biochem J. 1940 Jun;34(6):858–865. doi: 10.1042/bj0340858. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- BENESCH R. E., LARDY H. A., BENESCH R. The sulfhydryl groups of crystalline proteins. I. Some albumins, enzymes, and hemoglobins. J Biol Chem. 1955 Oct;216(2):663–676. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- BURTON K. A study of the conditions and mechanism of the diphenylamine reaction for the colorimetric estimation of deoxyribonucleic acid. Biochem J. 1956 Feb;62(2):315–323. doi: 10.1042/bj0620315. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- CHIBA Y., SUGAHARA K. The nucleic acid content of chloroplasts isolated from spinach and tobacco leaves. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1957 Oct;71(2):367–376. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(57)90047-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- IDELMAN S. Existence d'un complexe lipides-nucléoprotéines à groupements sulfhydrilés au niveau du chromosome. C R Hebd Seances Acad Sci. 1957 Mar 25;244(13):1827–1828. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- JOHNSTON F. B., SETTERFIELD G., STERN H. The isolation of nucleoli from ungerminated pea embryos. J Biophys Biochem Cytol. 1959 Aug;6(1):53–56. doi: 10.1083/jcb.6.1.53. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Johnston F. B., Nasatir M., Stern H. The Isolation of Nuclei and Oxidative Particles from Viable Wheat Embryos. Plant Physiol. 1957 Mar;32(2):124–129. doi: 10.1104/pp.32.2.124. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- MARTIN E. M., MORTON R. K. Enzymic and chemical properties of cytoplasmic particles from wheat roots. Biochem J. 1956 Dec;64(4):687–693. doi: 10.1042/bj0640687. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- OGUR M., ROSEN G. The nucleic acids of plant tissues; the extraction and estimation of desoxypentose nucleic acid and pentose nucleic acid. Arch Biochem. 1950 Feb;25(2):262–276. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- PALADE G. E., SIEKEVITZ P. Pancreatic microsomes; an integrated morphological and biochemical study. J Biophys Biochem Cytol. 1956 Nov 25;2(6):671–690. doi: 10.1083/jcb.2.6.671. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]