Hertz-Fowler, C. et al. (2008) Telomeric expression sites are highly conserved in trypanosoma brucei. PLoS ONE, 3(10), e3527. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003527)
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Publisher's URL: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003527
Abstract
Subtelomeric regions are often under-represented in genome sequences of eukaryotes. One of the best known examples of the use of telomere proximity for adaptive purposes are the bloodstream expression sites (BESs) of the African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei. To enhance our understanding of BES structure and function in host adaptation and immune evasion, the BES repertoire from the Lister 427 strain of T. brucei were independently tagged and sequenced. BESs are polymorphic in size and structure but reveal a surprisingly conserved architecture in the context of extensive recombination. Very small BESs do exist and many functioning BESs do not contain the full complement of expression site associated genes (ESAGs). The consequences of duplicated or missing ESAGs, including ESAG9, a newly named ESAG12, and additional variant surface glycoprotein genes (VSGs) were evaluated by functional assays after BESs were tagged with a drug-resistance gene. Phylogenetic analysis of constituent ESAG families suggests that BESs are sequence mosaics and that extensive recombination has shaped the evolution of the BES repertoire. This work opens important perspectives in understanding the molecular mechanisms of antigenic variation, a widely used strategy for immune evasion in pathogens, and telomere biology.
Item Type: | Articles |
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Additional Information: | This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Barry, Professor J |
Authors: | Hertz-Fowler, C., Figueiredo, L.M., Quail, M.A., Becker, M., Jackson, A., Bason, N., Brooks, K., Churcher, C., Fahkro, S., Goodhead, I., Heath, P., Kartvelishvili, M., Mungall, K., Harris, D., Hauser, H., Sanders, M., Saunders, D., Seeger, K., Sharp, S., Taylor, J.E., Walker, D., White, B., Young, R., Cross, G.A. M., Rudenko, G., Barry, J.D., Louis, E.J., and Berriman, M. |
Subjects: | Q Science > QR Microbiology |
College/School: | College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity |
Journal Name: | PLoS ONE |
Publisher: | Public Library of Science |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
ISSN (Online): | 1932-6203 |
Published Online: | 27 October 2008 |
Copyright Holders: | © 2008 Hertz-Fowler et al. |
First Published: | First published in PLoS ONE 2008 3(10): e3527 |
Publisher Policy: | Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher |
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