Histones are basic nuclear proteins that are responsible for the nucleosome structure of the chromosomal fiber in eukaryotes Nucleosomes consist of approximately 146 bp of DNA wrapped around a histone octamer composed of pairs of each of the four core histones (H2A H2B H3 and H4) The chromatin fiber is further compacted through the interaction of a linker histone H1 with the DNA between the nucleosomes to form higher order chromatin structures This gene is intronless and encodes a replication-dependent histone that is a member of the histone H3 family Transcripts from this gene lack polyA tails instead they contain a palindromic termination element This gene is located separately from the other H3 genes that are in the histone gene cluster on chromosome 6p22-p21 3