The nucleosome core particle (shown in the figure) consists of about 146 base pair of DNA wrapped in 1.67 left-handed superhelical turns around the histone octamer, consisting of 2 copies each of the core histones H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. Adjacent nucleosomes are joined by a stretch of free DNA termed linker DNA (which varies from 10 - 80 bp in length depending on species and tissue type).The whole structure generates a cylinder of diameter 11 nm and a height of 5.5 nm.