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Science 26 November 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5701, pp. 1571 - 1573
DOI: 10.1126/science.1103124
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Reports

Nucleosome Arrays Reveal the Two-Start Organization of the Chromatin Fiber

Benedetta Dorigo,1* Thomas Schalch,1* Alexandra Kulangara,1 Sylwia Duda,1 Rasmus R. Schroeder,2 Timothy J. Richmond1{dagger}

Chromatin folding determines the accessibility of DNA constituting eukaryotic genomes and consequently is profoundly important in the mechanisms of nuclear processes such as gene regulation. Nucleosome arrays compact to form a 30-nanometer chromatin fiber of hitherto disputed structure. Two competing classes of models have been proposed in which nucleosomes are either arranged linearly in a one-start higher order helix or zigzag back and forth in a two-start helix. We analyzed compacted nucleosome arrays stabilized by introduction of disulfide cross-links and show that the chromatin fiber comprises two stacks of nucleosomes in accord with the two-start model.

1 Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Institute for Molecular Biology and Biophysics, ETH–Hönggerberg, CH–8093 Zürich, Switzerland. 2 Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Department of Biomedical Mechanisms, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.



* These authors contributed equally to this work.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: richmond{at}mol.biol.ethz.ch

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