Chromatin folding determines the accessibility of DNA constituting eukaryotic genomes and consequently is profoundly important in the mechanisms of nuclear processes such as gene regulation. Nucleosome arrays compact to form a 30-nanometer chromatin fiber of hitherto disputed structure. Two competing classes of models have been proposed in which nucleosomes are either arranged linearly in a one-start higher order helix or zigzag back and forth in a two-start helix. We analyzed compacted nucleosome arrays stabilized by introduction of disulfide cross-links and show that the chromatin fiber comprises two stacks of nucleosomes in accord with the two-start model.
