Extended Data Fig. 8: Mechanism of H2B.8-mediated sperm condensation.
From: Histone H2B.8 compacts flowering plant sperm through chromatin phase separation
H2B.8 drives sperm nuclear condensation via the formation of chromatin condensates (yellow), which is dependent on an intrinsically disordered region (IDR) of H2B.8 conserved among flowering plants. Unlike typical chromatin condensation mechanisms, H2B.8-induced condensation does not inhibit transcription. Condensation is achieved by the specific deposition of H2B.8 into inactive AT-rich chromatin, which alters higher-order chromatin architecture to effectively compact the nucleus without sacrificing transcription. H2B.8-mediated chromatin aggregation disperses heterochromatin foci (pink), suggesting interactions between the euchromatic (yellow) and heterochromatic (pink) chromatin condensates in the nucleus.
