Phosphate and thiol groups in histone f3 from rat liver and thymus nuclei.

1. Differences in washing procedures and conditions of dialysis affected the type of histone f3 obtained from rat liver and thymus nuclei. 2. Sulphur-rich preparations of f3 contained phosphate and had SH+SS: phosphorus ratio 1:2. 3. Sulphur-rich f3 from livers of [(14)C]adenine-labelled rats gave counts indicating a phosphorus: adenine ratio 1:1. 4. Evidence was presented that histones f3 and f1 exist in nuclei as families of proteins, differing with respect to their sulphur or phosphorus content or both. 5. The significance of the different states of phosphorylation and oxidation of histones f1 and f3 was discussed.