The action of staphylococcal nuclease (EC-number 3. 1. 4. 7.) on thymus nucleohistone (TNH) and on some nucleoprotamines.

The biphasic nature of the time course of the action of staphylococcal nuclease on thymus nucleohistone was confirmed by studying the hydrolysis of this nucleoprotein at various enzyme concentrations. The transition from the rapid first to the sluggish second phase of the time course was particularly distinct at the highest enzyme concentrations. The rapid initial phase of the hydrolysis curve leveled off sharply when between 60 and 65 per cent of the total TNH phosphorus had been converted to acid-soluble phosphorus compounds. The insoluble complexes of TNH with protamines were found to be very resistant against the action of staphylococcal nuclease. The time course of the action of staphylococcal nuclease on a commercial nucleoprotamine of salmon testicles was found to become very sluggish when between 35 and 40 per cent of its total phosphorus had been converted to acid-soluble phosphorus compounds. When nucleoprotamines prepared in the laboratory from the secreted sperm cell suspension of Brown Brook Trout were digested with staphylococcal nuclease, only between 15 and 20 per cent of the total phosphorus were cleaved to acid-soluble phosphorus compounds during the rapid phase of the nuclease action. The respective values for the phosphorus fractions available for magnesium-binding and those susceptible to the rapid cleavage by staphylococcal nuclease were found to be very similar.