Table 1.

Dependence on linker length of calculated structural parameters for a compact 1‐start fibre. The calculated values correspond to the values for helix gyre separation, nucleosomal tilt and helix pitch angle given in the text for the same state of compaction. Linker proximity is the distance between adjacent duplex helical axes. Note that for some linker lengths this distance is less than the diameter of a duplex (2 nm) but is greater than the minimum value attained on duplex penetration (~ 1.2 nm) 19

NRL (bp)	Diameter (nm)	Nuc/11 nm	Nuc/turn	Linker proximitya (nm)
177	28.3	6.5	6.5	2.87
187	30.8	7.7	7.7	2.88
197	34.9	10.5	10.5	2.62
207	37.9	11.2	11.2	2.35
217	42.2	14.6	14.6	1.71
227	45.5	15.7	15.7	1.40
237	48.9	15.8	15.8	1.40

^aAverage distance between immediate neighbours (linker i and linker i + 2).

NRL, nucleosome repeat length.