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Nucleosome core particles are observed when chromatin in interphase is treated to cause the chromatin to unfold partially. The resulting image, via an electron microscope, is "beads on a string". The string is the DNA, while each bead in the nucleosome is a core particle. The nucleosome core particle is composed of DNA and histone proteins. [29]
Because the human genome is so large, DNA must be condensed into chromatin, which consists of repeating units known as nucleosomes. Nucleosomes contain DNA and proteins called histones. The nucleosome core usually contains around 146 DNA base pairs wrapped around a histone octamer. [4]
This is a big task as the nucleus of a mammalian cell has a diameter of approximately 6 μm, whilst the DNA in one human cell would stretch to just over 2 metres long if it were unwound. [6] The "beads on a string" structure can compact DNA to 7 times smaller. [1] The solenoid structure can increase this to be 40 times smaller. [2]
A deoxyribonucleoprotein (DNP) is a complex of DNA and protein. [12] The prototypical examples are nucleosomes, complexes in which genomic DNA is wrapped around clusters of eight histone proteins in eukaryotic cell nuclei to form chromatin. Protamines replace histones during spermatogenesis.
Nucleic acids consist of a chain of linked units called nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of three subunits: a phosphate group and a sugar (ribose in the case of RNA, deoxyribose in DNA) make up the backbone of the nucleic acid strand, and attached to the sugar is one of a set of nucleobases.
Three DNA conformations are believed to be found in nature, A-DNA, B-DNA, and Z-DNA. The "B" form described by James D. Watson and Francis Crick is believed to predominate in cells. [ 2 ] James D. Watson and Francis Crick described this structure as a double helix with a radius of 10 Å and pitch of 34 Å , making one complete turn about its ...
In DNA double helix, the two strands of DNA are held together by hydrogen bonds. The nucleotides on one strand base pairs with the nucleotide on the other strand. The secondary structure is responsible for the shape that the nucleic acid assumes. The bases in the DNA are classified as purines and pyrimidines. The purines are adenine and guanine ...
Given the difference in widths of the major groove and minor groove, many proteins which bind to DNA do so through the wider major groove. [6] Many double-helical forms are possible; for DNA the three biologically relevant forms are A-DNA, B-DNA, and Z-DNA, while RNA double helices have structures similar to the A form of DNA.