Question

Describe the structure of a nucleosome.

With the help of a suitable diagram describe the structure of a nucleosome

Describe the structure of a nucleosome, with the help of a well-labelled diagram.

Answer 1

In eukaryotes, the packaging of the DNA helix is very complex, as the amount of DNA is very high. When we analyse the structure of the eukaryotic chromosome, we find that it is composed of DNA and proteins. These proteins, known as histones, are basic in nature and are positively charged. Thus, they can easily interact with the negatively charged DNA molecule. The histone proteins first organise to make a unit of eight molecules, which is known as a histone octamer. The negatively charged DNA molecule gets wrapped around this positively charged histone octamer. This complex structure is called a nucleosome. In a typical nucleosome, around 200 base pairs of DNA are present.

Answer 2

The nucleosomes in chromatin are seen as ‘beads-on-string’. Histones are proteins that are rich in the basic amino acid residues, such as lysines and arginines, which carry the positive charge in their side chains. Eight molecules of histones (two each of H2A, H2B, H3 and H4) get organised to form a histone octamer. DNA is negatively charged, and it is wrapped around the positively charged histone octamer to form the nucleosome. Around the octamer, the DNA molecule is wrapped in 1 and 3/4th turn. The DNA is called core DNA (146 bp), and small segments of DNA linking the octamer are called linker DNA (54 bp). Each nucleosome contains 200 bp of DNA helix.