An electrophoretic comparison of histones in anuran testes

Abstract

An electrophoretic comparison of basic proteins present in Rana, Xenopus, and Bufo testes reveals a broad spectrum of histones in these anurans. Rana testis contains only the somatic complement of histones. However, Xenopus testis shows three bands migrating more rapidly than histone IV, the fastest moving histone in the somatic region. These three bands are specific to Xenopus testis. One band migrating even more rapidly in the protamine region is a specific component of Bufo testis. On the basis of previous cytochemical data, it would appear that these testis-specific histones in Xenopus and Bufo are likely to be confined to the sperm nucleus.