Analysis of histone in situ in developmentally inactivated chromatin.

Abstract

Evidence is presented, from fast green staining, for a quantitative difference in histories between euchromatin and heterochromatin which is genetically inactive and fails to metabolize RNA. No cytochemically measurable difference in lysine/arginine ratios of the 2 histones was noted. Both hetero- and euchromatin undergo a spermatogenic histone transition similar to that of Drosophila and other organisms; unlike other organisms, nongametogenic tissues of the testes also undergo this transition. These findings are shown to conform to either or both of the 2 predominant theories of the involvement of histone with cell differentiation.