A conserved U-rich RNA region implicated in regulation of translation in Plasmodium female gametocytes.

Braks, J.A.M., Mair, G.R., Franke-Fayard, B., Janse, C.J. and Waters, A.P. (2008) A conserved U-rich RNA region implicated in regulation of translation in Plasmodium female gametocytes. Nucleic Acids Research, 36(4), pp. 1176-1186. (doi: 10.1093/nar/gkm1142)

Abstract

Translational repression (TR) plays an important role in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression and embryonic development in metazoans. TR also regulates the expression of a subset of the cytoplasmic mRNA population during development of fertilized female gametes of the unicellular malaria parasite, Plasmodium spp. which results in the formation of a polar and motile form, the ookinete. We report the conserved and sex-specific regulatory role of either the 3’- or 5’-UTR of a subset of translationally repressed mRNA species as shown by almost complete inhibition of expression of a GFP reporter protein in the female gametocyte. A U-rich, TR-associated element, identified previously in the 3’-UTR of TR-associated transcripts, played an essential role in mediating TR and a similar region could be found in the 5’-UTR shown in this study to be active in TR. The silencing effect of this 5’-UTR was shown to be independent of its position relative to its ORF, as transposition to a location 3’ of the ORF did not affect TR. These results demonstrate for the first time in a unicellular organism that the 5’ or the 3’-UTR of TR-associated transcripts play an important and conserved role in mediating TR in female gametocytes.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Waters, Professor Andy
• Authors: Braks, J.A.M., Mair, G.R., Franke-Fayard, B., Janse, C.J., and Waters, A.P.
• Subjects: Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics; Q Science > QP Physiology
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences
• Journal Name: Nucleic Acids Research
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 1362-4962
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2007 the Authors.
• First Published: First published in Nucleic Acids Research 36(4):1176-1186
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced with permission of the Authors.