Abstract
THE chromatin of the interphase cell nucleus has been divided into two types on histochemical and ultrastructural grounds. Electron microscopy has shown heterochromatin or condensed chromatin to have a structure of densely compacted fibrils, whereas euchromatin shows a looser arrangement of similar fibrils. Demarcation between these two types is sharp, but there is continuity of fibrils between them1. Microspectrophotometric measurements of Feulgen-stained nuclei have shown that heterochromatin contains DNA two to three times as concentrated as in euchromatin2. It is rendered more electron dense by the uranyl stain used in electron microscopy3. Cells which are inactive in nucleic acid synthesis usually have a pachychromatic nuclear pattern with more heterochromatin than those which are more active.
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MILNER, G., HAYHOE, F. Ultrastructural Localization of Nucleic Acid Synthesis in Human Blood Cells. Nature 218, 785–787 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/218785a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/218785a0
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