The histone H1-lacZ' fusion protein produced in Escherichia coli binds to the 5'-TTGGCAnnnTGCCAA-3' motif on DNA

The coding region of the chicken histone H1.03 gene was cloned to a bacterial expression vector, and the 291-amino acid H1-beta-galactosidase fusion protein was isolated after induction with IPTG. The fusion protein recognizes the 5'-TTGGCAnnnTGCCAA-3' motif on DNA. The H1 globular domain was initially shown to be responsible for the sequence-specific binding by functional deletion analysis. This function may be indispensable for the role of H1 as a determinant of nucleosome positioning and as a eukaryotic repressor.