The high mobility group protein HMO1 functions as a linker histone in yeast.

Our data suggest that S. cerevisiae HMO1 protects linker DNA from nuclease digestion, a property also characteristic of mammalian linker histone H1. Notably, association with HMO1 creates a less dynamic chromatin environment that depends on its lysine-rich domain. That HMO1 has linker histone function has implications for investigations of chromatin structure and function as well as for evolution of proteins with roles in chromatin compaction.