What would happen if histones were to be mutated and made rich in acidic amino acids such as aspartic acid and glutamic acid in place of basic amino acids such as lysine and arginine?
Aspartic and glutamic acid are acidic amino acids, while lysine and arginine are basic amino acids. Lysine and arginine carry positive charges on their side chains which is not the case with aspartic acid and glutamic acid. DNA is negatively charged and hence is wrapped around the positively charged histone octamer. DNA will not be able to wrap around itself if acidic amino acids are present in histones because of mutation. Thus, long strands of DNA will not be able to fit inside the small space in the nucleus. This will mean an end to the nuclear organisation, which is possible because of efficient packaging.