Microfluorometric studies on chromosomes. Quantitative determination of protein content of Chinese hamster chromosome 1 in situ with and without trypsin digestion.

The fluorescent stains, dansyl chloride and fluorescamine, were used to indicate the amount of protein in G-banded and unbanded chromosomes 1 of the Chinese hamster relative to the average amount of protein in human erythrocyte. Fluorescence was found to be proportional to protein mass up to the equivalent of three erythrocytes. In G-banding, trypsin digestion resulted in an average protein loss of 35.4% compared with unbanded chromosomes.