Chromatin phospholipid changes during rat liver development

The chromatin extracted from rat hepatocytes of different ages has been shown to contain a phospholipid fraction representing 0·47–0·59 per cent of total chromatin in newborn animals and 0·22 per cent in 45‐day‐old animals. No such age‐related differences are observed in the nuclei. The phospholipid composition of the nuclei at different ages shows a higher level of sphingomyelin and a lower level of phosphatidylserine in newborn than in adult animals. Chromatin phospholipids have a completely different composition from that of nuclei with respect to age, particularly in newborn rats, where there is a decrease in phosphatidylcholine and an increase in phosphatidylserine.