Histones interact with which of the following DNA components?

Histones primarily interact with the phosphate backbone of DNA. This interaction is critical for forming chromatin, which is the structural unit of chromosomes in eukaryotic cells. Histones are positively charged proteins, and they bind to the negatively charged phosphate groups in the DNA backbone. This association helps in the winding of DNA around histones, facilitating the compaction of DNA into a more organized structure, thus regulating gene accessibility and expression.

The other options, such as introns and exons (which refer to regions within genes) as well as pseudogenes (gene sequences that resemble functional genes but are typically non-functional), do not represent direct components that histones bind to. While these regions can influence or determine the structure of chromatin in terms of gene expression, they do not have the same direct interaction as the phosphate groups of the DNA backbone do with histones.