In collaboration with J.P. Breillatt at the Molecular Anatomy Program (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) we have succeeded in preparing gram quantities of monomer nu bodies, the basic repeating globular subunit of eukaryotic chromatin. This material has been extensively characterized by hydrodynamic and electron microscopic techniques. We propose to employ biochemical and spectroscopic methods (e.g., circular dichroism and laser Raman scattering) to search for conformational transitions of isolated nu bodies. Electron microscopic studies from a number of laboratories (unpublished observations) suggest that in regions of extensive and rapid RNA synthesis the nu bodies may be "unravelled". We hope to demonstrate whether any observed conformational transitions observable with isolated monomer (nu 1) or polymers (nu n) might be meaningful in terms of transcription or DNA replication, by observing the perturbation in chromatin structure with the addition of appropriate polymerases.