The system of genetic exchange in Trypanosoma brucei and other trypanosomatids

MacLeod, A. , Turner, C.M.R. and Tait, A. (2007) The system of genetic exchange in Trypanosoma brucei and other trypanosomatids. In: Barry, D., McCulloch, R., Mottram, J. and Acosta-Serrano, A. (eds.) Trypanosomes: after the genome. Horizon Press, pp. 71-90. ISBN 9781904933274

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss our current understanding of the systems of genetic exchange in trypanosomatids and the im-pact the recent genome projects have had on this area of research. We focus mainly on the details of Trypanosoma brucei as it is the most extensively studied of the “trityps”, but will also refer to a recently discovered novel mechanism of genetic exchange in T. cruzi and the apparent rarity of genetic ex-change in Leishmania sp.The system of genetic exchange in Trypanosoma brucei has been known to exist since the late eighties when a genetic cross between different strains was carried out by co-transmission through the tsetse fly. We discuss the segregation of nuclear, chromosomal and kDNA markers and outline the two current models for the mechanism of genetic exchange. We also present how the completion of the genome project has allowed the identification of polymorphic micro and minisatel-lite markers distributed throughout the genome, which have been used to prove formally that meiosis, independent assortment and crossing over occur in this para-site, as would be predicted in a conventional Mendelian system. Such data have been used to construct the first genetic map of T. brucei, which opens up the use of genetic analysis, coupled with positional cloning and the genome sequence, as a tool to identify the genes involved in a range of traits relevant to the disease.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: MacLeod, Professor Annette
• Authors: MacLeod, A., Turner, C.M.R., and Tait, A.
• Subjects: Q Science > QR Microbiology > QR355 Virology
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
• Publisher: Horizon Press
• ISBN: 9781904933274
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2007 Horizon Press
• First Published: Wymondham
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced with permission of the publisher