Zhang, Fan2024-08-152024-08-1519961996https://hdl.handle.net/1828/20265The aim of this thesis was to establish the chromatin structure and organization in the sperm of two bivalve mollusks: Mytilus californianus and Spisula solidissima. Nuclease digestion and crosslinking studies showed that the sperm chromatin of Mytilus califomianus has a organization consisting of small groups of oligonucleosomes interspersed between long stretches of nucleoprotamine filaments. The nucleoprotamine complexes result from the association of PL-II, PL-III and PL-IV with DNA. The spatial arrangement of different PL proteins within these complexes is discussed. In the case of Spisula, it was found that its major protamine-like component (PL-I) contains at least two cysteines located between tryptophan and tyrosine residues of the globular region of the molecule. It was also found that the PL-I exhibits a head to tail alignment in the sperm.74 pagesAvailable to the World Wide WebThesis