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. 1976 Jul;3(7):1739–1746. doi: 10.1093/nar/3.7.1739

Organisation of subunits in chromatin.

B G Carpenter, J P Baldwin, E M Bradbury, K Ibel
PMCID: PMC343032  PMID: 967672

Abstract

There is considerable current interest in the organisation of nucleosomes in chromatin. A strong X-ray and neutron semi-meridional diffraction peak at approximately 10 nm had previously been attributed to the interparticle specing of a linear array of nucleosomes. This diffraction peak could also result from a close packed helical array of nucleosomes. A direct test of these proposals is whether the 10 nm peak is truly meridional as would be expected for a linear array of nucleosomes or is slightly off the meridian as expected for a helical array. Neutron diffraction studies of H1-depleted chromatin support the latter alternative. The 10 nm peak has maxima which form a cross-pattern with semi-meridional angle of 8 to 9 degrees. This is consistent with a coil of nucleosomes of pitch 10 nm and outer diameter of approximately 30 nm. These dimensions correspond to about six nucleosomes per turn of the coli.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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