Intricate, dynamic, and absolutely unavoidable ageing affects cells and 
organisms through their entire lifetime. Driven by diverse mechanisms all 
leading to compromised cellular functions and finally to death, this process is 
a challenge for researchers. The molecular mechanisms, the general rules that it 
follows, and the complex interplay at a molecular and cellular level are yet 
little understood. Here, we present our results showing a connection between the 
linker histones, the higher-order chromatin structures, and the process of 
chronological lifespan of yeast cells. By deleting the gene for the linker 
histone in Saccharomyces cerevisiae we have created a model for studying the 
role of chromatin structures mainly at its most elusive and so far barely 
understood higher-order levels of compaction in the processes of yeast 
chronological lifespan. The mutant cells demonstrated controversial features 
showing slower growth than the wild type combined with better survival during 
the whole process. The analysis of the global chromatin organization during 
different time points demonstrated certain loss of the upper levels of chromatin 
compaction in the cells without linker histone. The results underlay the 
importance of this histone for the maintenance of the chromatin loop structures 
during ageing.