Histone Cluster 1, H2bl (HIST1H2BL)

Histones are basic nuclear proteins that are responsible for the nucleosome structure of the chromosomal fiber in eukaryotes. Two molecules of each of the four core histones (H2A, H2B, H3, and H4) form an octamer, around which approximately 146 bp of DNA is wrapped in repeating units, called nucleosomes.

HIST1H2BL is intronless and encodes a member of the histone H2B family. Transcripts from this gene lack polyA tails but instead contain a palindromic termination element. This gene is found in the small histone gene cluster on chromosome 6p22-p21.3. Albig and Doenecke (1997) characterized a second cluster of 16 histone genes, including H2B/c, located 2 Mb centromeric to the major histone gene cluster.