Q. 9. 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?
If histones were mutated and made rich in acidic amino acids. They will not be able to serve the purpose of keeping the DNA coiled around them. This is because of basic amino acids.
So, they are attracted to each other. If histones become negatively charged, instead of binding, they will rather repel DNA. The packaging of DNA in eukaryotes would not happen.
Consequently, the chromatin fibre would not be formed.
