Isolation and partial characterization of a mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid-protein complex from sea urchin embryos

✍ Scribed by Ljiljana Ševaljević; L. Svetozar Petrović; David Rickwood

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1978
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 351 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0300-8177
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00240132

✦ Synopsis

Lysis of mitochondria from sea urchin embryos with Triton X-100 led to a complete conversion of DNA-containing mitochondrial residues into protein-DNA complex with a density higher than 1.22 g/cm3 in sucrose solutions. This complex banded isopycnically in metrizamide gradients at a density of 1.26 g/cm3. Exposure to mixtures of Triton X-100 with Tween 80 resulted in progressively less delipitated and disorganized mitochondria over Tween/Triton weight ratios from 1 to 2, with the retention of the starting buoyant density in sucrose of approximately 1.16 g/cm3 at Tween/Triton ratios above 2.5. The DNA-internal protein complex sedimented with the bulk of the surviving mitochondrial structure under all conditions studied. No free DNA could be detected under any conditions of membrane removal.