Glycine and other amino compounds prevent chromatin precipitation at physiological ionic strength.

Glycine, proline and taurine, when present in the range 0.1-0.60 M, inhibit chromatin precipitation by sodium chloride. Histone gel electrophoresis revealed that the linker histones H1 and H5 were largely depleted from the supernatant chromatin fraction at 0.2 M NaCl, while this depletion was absent in the presence of glycine. These observations are discussed in relation with the various factors which may be involved in the precipitation process.