Histones from Sperm of the Sea Urchin <i>Arbacia lixula</i>

Abstract

Whole histone and five fractions were prepared from the sperm of the sea urchin Arbacia lixula . They were characterized by starch gel electrophoresis and amino acid analyses. The fractions are classified as follows: ϕ1 (very lysine‐rich), ϕ2b (lysine‐rich), ϕ2a2 (intermediate type), and ϕ2a1 and ϕ3 (lysine‐poor). They have many similarities with calf thymus histone fractions, F1, F2b, F2a2, F2a1 and F3, in this order. Nevertheless, differences exist, the most important being a higher arginine content in several fractions, and the high proportion of the very lysine‐rich fraction found in the sperm of A. lixula .