THE STABILITY OF MAIZE NUCLEI TO RESTRICTION ENZYME DIGESTION DIFFERSWITH TRANSCRIPTIONAL ACTIVITY

The stability to restriction of nuclei obtained from plant cells of di fferent transcriptional activity (dry embryo, root tip meristem and ep icotyl protoplasts) has been studied. The morphological data obtained following fluorescent staining of nucleoid DNA with acridine orange in dicate that the dry embryo structures are less stable than those activ ely involved in transcription, probably reflecting the lack of interna l nuclear matrix structures in the dry embryo. The data support the su ggestion for the key role these structures play in the functioning of the genome.