HISTONES AND GENE FUNCTION

HISTOLOGICAL AND CYTOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON FIVE GENETIC MALE-STERILE LINES OF BARLEY (HORDEUM VULGARE)

The action of the genes msg5, msg9, msg10, msg14, and msg18 in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is almost entirely restricted to the sporogenous and tapetal tissues of the anther. No histological effects are found before the completion of meiosis except in msg18. Subsequently their behavior becomes distinctly deviant. In msg5, 9, 14 and 18 soon after a normal meiosis the microspores begin to deteriorate and are almost completely deformed at a period corresponding to that just before microspore division in normal anthers. In msg10 deleterious effects on microspores first appear midway between the end of meiosis and the beginning of microspore karyokinesis.The tapetum remains nondegenerate and persistent in msg5, 10 and 14 but suddenly collapses after the free microspore stage in msg9. In msg18 it shows an early effect during the meiotic period, when failure in the last tapetal nuclear division (karyokinesis) results in an early collapse of this tissue.Nuclear DNA and histone in male-sterile sporogenous and tapetal tissues as measured by microspectrophotometry increase at the normal rate during the premeiotic S phase. However, in the sporogenous tissues, the subsequent DNA and histone syntheses that normally culminate in microspore mitosis are distinctly lacking. Thus in all male-steriles except msg10, the microspore nuclei show an actual loss in these two macromolecules and in msg10 there is an initial rise only for a short period, followed by a dramatic drop.Nuclear DNA and histone in tapetal tissues subsequently show variable behavior, which seems to be specific for each male-sterile line.The behavior of sporogenous and tapetal tissues thus lends support to the hypothesis that there is transport of substances, critical to development, between the porogenous tissue and tapetum. The effects on DNA-histone turnover, first in the sporogenous tissue and then in the tapetum, suggest that the action of msg5 and 9 is initiated within the microspores when they are still invested in a callose wall. On the other hand, in msg10 and 14 a reverse sequence indicates that the action is initiated in tapetal tissues. The effect in msg18 is a direct consequence of defective tapetal functioning.All male-steriles at the free microspore stage show drastic reductions in nucleolar volume (and hence in rRNA synthesis) accompanied by a high frequency of binucleolate microspore nuclei.

Immunofluorescent studies of basic nuclear proteins

Histone antibodies were obtained by injecting salt extracted calf thymus basic nuclear proteins into chickens. Fluorescent globulins were prepared from chicken antisera with precipitating antibodies against a single electrophoretic fraction of the nuclear protein extract. The fluorescent antiserum was specific for nuclei and chromosomes but was neither organ nor species specific. It reacted specifically with nuclei of cell imprints of bovine and human leucocytes, with polytene chromosomes from Chironomus salivary gland cells, and with nuclei from lily and onion root tip cells. It did not react with chicken blood smears. A decrease in the intensity of fluorescence roughly proportional to the phylogenetic divergence of the tested species was observed.These studies indicate that this basic nuclear protein fraction has acquired remarkably little variation over a long evolutionary period.

Amphibian lens histones and their relation to the cell cycle

Histones have been electrophoretically separated from acid extracts of the frog lens for the first time. The five conventional histone fractions, representing four electrophoretic bands (f1; f2b, f3; f2a2; and f2a1), are present in both the epithelial and fiber cells. In addition, a fifth fraction was isolated from both sources and the evidence suggests that it may be a tissue-specific histone, possibly related to the lysine-rich f2c fraction found previously only in nucleated erythrocytes. The epithelial cells contain a substantially greater amount of histone than the fiber cells. Moreover, the fibers, unlike the epithelium, manifest no net histone synthesis or turnover following lenticular explantation. Microspectrophotometric, radioautographic, and gel electrophoretic studies indicate that the histones are synthesized in frog lenses concurrently with DNA. Inhibition of DNA synthesis does not completely abolish that of histones but reduces it by about one-half. In the early stages of culture (prior to their synthesis and that of DNA) the histones appear to undergo alterations which are prevented by treatment with cycloheximide.

Interactions between the lysine-rich histone F1 and deoxyribonucleic acid

1. The interactions of the lysine-rich histone F1 with DNA have been studied at various histone to DNA ratios, in water and in the presence of uni- and bi-valent cations. In water only, histone F1, even in fourfold excess, is unable to precipitate all the DNA. In 0.14m-sodium chloride, 0.8mg. of histone F1 is required to precipitate 1mg. of DNA, whereas in 0.07m-magnesium chloride only 0.4mg. is required. 2. Bivalent cations are also shown to be more effective in dissociating the DNA-histone complex. Histone F1 can be selectively removed from deoxyribonucleoprotein with 0.1m-magnesium chloride. 3. The precipitation of DNA by histone F1 is a reversible process and the complex can be taken in and out of solution by changing the ionic environment. 4. The bearing of these results on the observed ability of various DNA-histone complexes to act as templates for RNA synthesis is discussed.