Viable and fertile fruit flies in the absence of histone H3.3
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - 13:30
in Biology & Nature
Histones—proteins that package DNA—affect cell function differently than previously assumed: the cell doesn't need the histone H3.3 to read genes. Molecular biologists from the University of Zurich demonstrate that fruit flies can develop and reproduce in the absence of this histone. Additionally, cell division works without a histone modification previously deemed crucial.